We the Personas
by BrightDarkness-2013
Summary: Was... Was I going to disappear next? Maybe but should I try to prevent it?... No. If I wanted to know what was going on I would have to vanish myself. If I didn't I would never have my answer. I would never have my answer about what happened to Jiraiya, or Sukuna-Hikona, or any of the others.
1. Chapter 1

**So? Who out there actually knows Persona 4 or 3 or even 2? Now then... This is a story, THE story from the view of the Personas. Sure it has its own little twist but you know.**

This is our world. The world that is invisible to all. Why? I don't know. Its just always been like that. How was I suppose to know why? How was anyone suppose to know why? Well I guess its for the best. People would freak if they saw us. They would probably call in the army or something. The world that coexists with the world of the shadows. This is the world of us, the Personas. Our little society if that's what you want to call it has been well... depleting. They've been disappearing. Most believed that it had something to do with the shadows and their creator. I am among those who believe that. What else could it be? Was... Was I going to disappear next? Maybe but should I try to prevent it?

…

No. If I wanted to know what was going on I would have to vanish myself. If I didn't I would never have my answer. I would never have my answer about what happened to Jiraiya, or Sukuna-Hikona, or any of the others.

…

I had that weird dream again that night. I wandered the unknown area like last time with no sense of time or direction. This foggy area... I didn't feel threatened like I should have and that was kind of frightening within itself. This was where the shadows came to play. I should be on guard but... I was at ease here. Was this where they all went or... is this just a dream? A very vivid dream. After a fair amount of time I heard a barely audible call... For help? I didn't have time to think about it. I a split second I was next to one of those from the human world. The human took notice of me then look back to where the human had been looking. I took a second to notice that there was a dark silhouette standing not too far from us. Upon closer inspection of myself, I was just a detailless silhouette myself. Did this mean that I was disappearing from my world? I looked back down to the human. Why? Why wasn't that human afraid of me? The human drew into a fighting stance. Well... I couldn't just let a human fight alone against that thing. It gave me a bad feeling. I drew my blade, dashing forward with the human. I felt my blades edge met flesh. The creature was jerked the direction that our swords went in but it didn't move from its spot. Why had it made no move to dodge?

The creature gave out an amused laugh. I reacted but taking hold of the human and getting us both away. I readied my blade. What was this thing? This dark power seemed so... Familiar but... The fog was thickening. It seemed so thick and heavy that you could cut it with a knife. I tensed. I couldn't help but feel threatened. I had a feeling that even though we could no longer see it, It could see us. The human looked up at me. I glanced down feeling that worried look up quickly turned my attention back to the current situation. I scanned the area around us trying to pick up even the slightest sound. Anything that could give me a hint to where it was. What exactly was this thing? A shadow?

…

No. There was something different about it and that something was the power it held. I could feel the things pulses of power but here... It was like that pulse was everywhere. If I could have used that to locate it I would have. The creature with one last taunt faded away into the endless sea of fog taking that dark pulse with it. I was about to give chase but the human for whatever reason fainted. I quickly caught the human. Now what?

…

Not long after my vision blurred just like the last time. I couldn't. If I left this human could be killed but... staying and going wasn't my choice. I blinked. That's all I did. Blink. Blink and I was alone in the fog. I looked around. I couldn't sense that thing or that human anymore. Where was I? Was this it? Was this what happened to those who disappeared? Were they just wandering in this fog, lost? Should I start walking or should I stay here? Everything looked the same around me. Fog. I examined myself again. Still dark and detailless. What did this mean? I started walking. I stopped.

"Izanagi?... No..."

"Why won't he-"

I tried to focus on the voices that seemed... so. So familiar but they faded all too quickly. I drew my blade hearing that familiar movement of the shadows. The way they moved was kind of rhythmic. To most their movements were random but to me it, it was different. I evaded the attack of a shadow at the last second. Another attack. I dodged. How could they see me though I couldn't see them? Attack, dodge, attack, block. All I was doing was blocking and dodging. I couldn't fight back like this. Stay calm. I couldn't allow any panic to enter into my system. If you panic, you die. I always took pride in my being level headed and calm in every situation and I wasn't about to throw all of that away now. Did... Did those who disappeared get hit by the shadows? If they did then I would have to as well but I couldn't be so quick to jump to conclusions. Just focus on finding an escape. How could I be sure that they went one way or another? I couldn't be. I got ready to dodge the next attack and run. It lunged. I leaped over it and ran. The fog continued to grow thicker. My movement halted. I looked around searching for the source of the voices. One came from deeper in the fog in the direction that I was heading but the other. It came in the opposite direction and where the shadows were was a small light. Dull but it cut through the darkness that seemed to closing in as the fog grew thicker. I walked toward it making it brighter but only slightly. The closer I got the more the voice seemed to clear. While the other dulled.

"What do you seek? The sha-"

"Izanagi, wake up. Please wake up."

I hear that pleading voice as my vision started to blurr. Next thing I knew everything was dark and the light pleading was much clearer and closer.

"Come on Izanagi. Please."

I felt so tired like I hadn't slept in two days. Despite my sudden need to let them know that I could hear them I couldn't will myself to open my eyes. I let myself drift off. Right into a dreamless slumber. I woke later to that pleading again. I felt a slightly chilled hand on my shoulder. My eyes fluttered open. At first seeing nothing. I blinked a few more times trying to get my eyes to adjust to the lighting. I noticed the candle light in the corner of my eye.

"Izanagi. You're awake."

The speaker sounded breathless yet full of relief. I looked over. Apsaras. What was she doing here? That candle was next to her. A spirit candle? Those were meant to guide lost souls. The bright blue flame flickered in the darkness. The black wax melting ever so slowly. It looked to be less than half its original size.

"Are? Do you feel ok?" Apsaras questioned with concern coating her voice once again.

Apsaras looked to the door as Principality walking in. What was going on?

"Awake?" He asked. "Good. I was worried your soul would need more guidance."

"Guidance? What happened?" I managed to question.

"...Well. None of us are exactly sure, but that doesn't take away from the fact that we could sense Amenosgiri's presence. It may have been weak but it was still here. He may have something to do with the disappearances." Principality answered with way more detail than necessary as he went to thinking out loud.

"I'm glad we came by. You could've disappeared too." Apsaras voiced.

"We were lucky that it seems to be a slow process."

"Slow process? How... How long was I out?"

"A few days." Apsaras told me.

"Days?" I repeated stunned to which she nodded.

"Did. Did it hurt?" She asked.

"Hurt? _Was anything going to be clear_?"

"Mmhm. You winced a few times like you were in pain."

"I... don't think so." I said thinking. "All I remember-"

I stopped. That seemed to grab Principality's attention. He encouraged me to go on.

"All this fog..."

I summarized my 'dream' for them after Principality convinced me into doing so.

"Hmmm... What is he planning?" Principality more asked himself.

"What are we going to do?" Apsaras inquired. "If we don't figure this out we'll all disappear."

After our little discussion and Principality deciding that I needed sleep they hesitantly left like they feared that I would vanish if they lost sight of me. A few days later something odd happened. First I was standing and overlooking the fog then I heard that familiar call. Once again, no time to think. I was just there. I was in the fog but this time it was clearer and I could see the shadows. This time I was me and not some detailess silhouette. A shadow attacked. I kicked it easily finishing it off.

"Wh-what is that?"

I looked back to fallen human and a-. Was that a shadow?... It didn't seem to be a threat so I left it. So I was stuck in this odd place with two humans and a semi-shadow. Great. I heard the still standing human call out in pain as I got hit. The shadows are biting into My flesh. Why was he in pain?... Wait. I threw the shadows off. 'Thou art I and I am Thou.' That's what it meant. A shadow lunged. I drove my blade into it. The last one. I slashed it.

"Izanagi!" The human called. I knew exactly what to do. Zio. The lightning crashed down killing it. After the fight I faded but didn't leave exactly. The human smiled at my rather ghostly form. Wasn't he the same human that I fought with before?

"Wow Sensei. No wonder the shadows were scared of you." The teddie bear shadow chirped. "You're really something! Don't you think so Yosuke?"

"Dude, you call him Sensei and then don't show me any respect!?"

"Sorry…"

"W-Well, your support wasn't bad, though."

"I gotta give you some credit for that."

"Huh? R-Really…? Heehee."

"All right, you two keep it up, and I think we'll be fine from here on out."

"Now, let's get back to the investigation!"

"Man… I wonder what could have happened to Senpai here."

"I wish Junes would go under…" Said an unknown voice. "It's all because of that store…" An unknown voice suddenly voiced its opinion.

"Wh-What the…" The one called Yosuke seemed speechless.

"Oh, I heard that Konishi-san's daughter is working there."

"Oh my… How could she, with her family's business suffering like it is…?"

"I heard their sales have gone downhill because of Junes."

"S-Stop it…"

"That poor father… to have his own daughter working for the enemy."The unknown voices continued to play. "What a troublesome child…"

"You said that this place is reality for those that are here, right!? So... does that mean this was Senpai's reality when she wandered in here…?"

"I… only know about what's over here." The bear responded.

"Fine…" Yosuke replied. "Whatever's going on here… We'll find out ourselves!"

They entered the liquor store. I followed where all those weird voices continued to sound. This place... Something was here and it was hostile. I could feel it. I was pretty sure that one human could see me so I stepped in front of him. He stopped.

"Keep your guard up." I warned to which he nodded.

"Saki, how many times do I have to tell you!?" A males voice screamed.

"I-Is this… Senpai's dad…?"

"You know what the neighbors say about you, right!? Aren't you ashamed of yourself? You're the eldest daughter of a family who's owned this store for generations! Is it the money? Or did you meet some guy there? Just tell me why you have to work THERE, of all places!"

"I… I can't believe this… She seemed like she had fun at work… She never said anything like this to me… You're telling me THIS was how Senpai really saw things!?" Yosuke demanded.

We continued forward where Yosuke noticed some pictures on a table.

"It's the photo we took the other day with the other part-timers at Junes… Wh-Why's it cut up like this…?"

"I… never had the chance to say it…"

"Is that… Senpai's voice!?"

"I always wanted to tell Hana-chan…"

"Huh…? Me…?"

"…that he was a real pain in the ass. I was nice to him just because he was the store manager's son, that's all… But he takes it completely the wrong way and gets all enthusiastic… What a dip." That Saki girls voice continued. Owch. "Who cares about Junes, anyway? Because of that store, our business is ruined, my parents hate me, the neighbors talk behind my back… I wish everything would just disappear…"

"I-It's a lie… This can't be… Senpai's not like that…!"

That hostile thing drew closer.

"It's so sad... I feel so sorry for myself. Boo hoo." It taunted. "Actually I'm the one who thinks everything's a pain in the ass."

"H-Huh? Two Yosukes…?" The bear questioned.

"Who are you!? I-I wouldn't think that…"

"Hahaha… Yeah, right. How long are you going to keep deluding yourself? Screw the shopping district, and Junes too! You're sick of everything, especially living out in the sticks!"

Jir- Jiraiya? What was he doing in that form? Why was he here? Was this where they all disappeared to? The human seemed to notice my change in, mood I guess you could say.

"What're you saying…? That's not true, I-"

"You put on a good show of being carefree and happy-go-lucky 'cause you're so terrified of being alone. The more the merrier, right? You've gotta be surrounded by people to block out the pain of isolation. And what's this about checking out this world for Saki-senpai's sake? Hah! I know the real reason you came snooping…" Jiraiya continued to taunt.

"S-Stop it!" Yosuke panicked.

"Hahaha! Why so panicked? I thought I was just spouting bullshit! Or maybe… I DO know everything you're thinking! Why's that…? Because I AM you!" Jiraiya shouted. "You just came here because it sounded like a good time! What else is there to do in this shithole? A world inside the TV. Now that's exciting. You didn't have a single other reason for coming here, did you!?"

What was he doing?! Sure I knew he liked to mess with everyone but he was going too far.

"That's not true… Stop… Stop it…"

"Jiraiya you're going too far. Leave him alone." I ordered.

His eyes twitched in my direction far too quickly for anyone to notice and he continued.

"You're just trying to act like a big shot… If all went well, hey, maybe you could even be a hero! And that Senpai you were so sweet on? Her death was the perfect excuse!"

"That's not true! What are you!? Who are you!?"

"I already told ya. I'm you… Your shadow… There's nothing I don't know about you!"

"Screw that! I don't know you! You can't be me, you son of a bitch!"

Darkness engulfed Jiraiya as he spoke. "That's right. I'm not you anymore. I am me!"

Light flashed and he changed his form.

"I am a shadow. The true self. I'll crush everything that bores me. Starting with you!"

Well this wasn't good. Jiraiya... What happened to you? The human who I Still didn't know the name of called me again and my form solidified. Jir- no. He's not Jiraiya anymore. He's a shadow and a strong one at that. That meant he had to be taken down. The shadow leered at me as I went to stand by the human. I met his gaze searching for something that would indicate that he was not a complete monster. To my dismay I found nothing. At the humans command I attacked. I evaded the shadows attempts to strike me and entered in my own blow. I leaped back as he swung at me again.

"So you choose to side with these weak creatures even after Amenosargiri's generous offer."

"Offer?" I couldn't help asking.

"Yes. Offer." The shadow said with an evil smile.

I smirked under my mask. "Sorry to say that I never spoke to the guy. Principality pulled me back before he could lure me."

The shadows smile slipped but it reappeared just as quickly. Checkmate. "No matter. I'll just pull you and your Persona user into the fog myself!" The shadow yelled as he leaped into the air.

I jumped in front of the humans bringing up my sword in an attempt to at least decrease the damage that I would receive. When the attack hit I struggled to stay standing. The human that the shadow had called my 'Persona user' had a harder time staying standing that I did. The shadow laughed.

"You can't beat me! I know your weakness!"

"And I yours." I retorted.

I looked back to the human who seemed to be 'tied' to me. He stood. Good. He could take a hit. The shadow lunged at me to which I evaded. I evaded the first few strikes only to get hit on the fourth. He swung again and I brought up my blade. I could hear the sickening cracking sound as his fist hit the cool metal. The shadow retreated. I advanced adding a few more deep cuts to the shadow. The shadow swung high. I ducked and kicked it. I was a bit surprised when that human joined in the fight. After a few seconds of us beating on it, it shouted. "Enough!" It swung hitting the human. The human fell back. Pain. Thou art I and I am thou. I flinched. The shadow took notice of that and slammed me into a wall. The force made the shelves shake and several drop. Bottles crashed down on us drenching us in the alcohol. The shadow grinned at me being pinned.

"Sucks being tied to a human, huh? Especially when you don't have to be."

My free hand gripped the shadows arm in a weak attempt to keep it from crushing me. I could feel the breath escape my lungs as the shadow pressed on my chest harder. I could hear the human coughing and gasping for breath as I struggled to get free to no avail. C-can't breathe...

**Ok people now. Any Persona X fans out there? Any Izanagi X Konahana Sakuya? Or Jiraiya X Tomoe? Any crits? Tell me what you like, what I'm doing wrong, or even your own ideas on what you think should happen or who should be together! OR IF I should just quit now! I wait!**


	2. Chapter 2

"Sucks being tied to a human, huh? Especially when you don't have to be."

My free hand gripped the shadows arm in a weak attempt to keep it from crushing me. I could feel the breath escape my lungs as the shadow pressed on my chest harder. I could hear the human coughing and gasping for breath as I struggled to get free to no avail. C-can't breathe... The human dropped to his hands and knees.

"Se-sensei!" The bear shadow panicked.

I would have gasped for breath if I could pull in any oxygen. I could feel a few of my ribs flare up in pain. Just as a few black spots were starting to cloud my vision a bottle exploded over shadow Jiraiya's head causing him to loosen his grip on me. Just enough for me to free my sword hand. I swung, my blade striking flesh. The shadow released me as he let out a pained cry. My Persona user and I gasped for breath. The intake of oxygen felt so sweet.

"You spineless-!" The shadow Jiraiya shouted but seemed to be unable to finish what he was about to yell at the now standing human. His breath was quick paced with fear as he held up a sake bottle, ready to throw.

"Iz-Izanagi!" The gasping human shouted.

Lightning crashed down on the shadow causing another pained cry to escape his lips. The shadow dropped to the ground. My Persona user and I, our gazes locked. We attacked the weakened shadow. With one last final cry of pain the shadow reverted back to the previous form. The form of that Yosuke person.

" You… You're… not me…"

Yeah no kidding. It's Jiraiya.

"That thing came from you, Yosuke… You have to admit it… or it'll go berserk again…" The bear shadow explained to him.

It came from Him? That makes no sense. Jiraiya came from- ...Amenosargiri has to be behind this but how? What could he possibly be planning?

"You're still you Yosuke" My Persona user voiced.

"Myself… Dammit… It hurts to face yourself… I knew it wasn't lying... But I was so ashamed that I didn't want to admit it… You're me… and I'm you. When you get down to it, all of this is me."

He nodded and in a brief flash turned back into himself. The Jiraiya I knew. How... strange. Surprising that Jiraiya would suddenly turn back into himself.

"This is my Persona… When we heard Senpai's voice… I wonder if that was something Senpai had been keeping deep down inside… Haha… "He was a real pain in the ass," huh? What a way to find out… Geez, this is so embarrassing… If you weren't here, I don't know what woulda happened… Thanks,Yu. Hey, Teddie… Could Senpai have been attacked by her other self here? Like how it just happened to me?"

So that was the name of my user.

"I think so. The Shadows here were originally born from humans. Sometimes the fog clears. Then they all go berserk… And you saw what happens next. A strong-willed Shadow draws others to it. And the big mass of Shadows kills the host." The bear shadow once again explained.

Sh-shadows?! We are Not shadows. But... Jiraiya seemed to of... turned into one. Sort of. So I guess it would be logical from their standpoint.

"So that's why people die when it gets foggy in our world." Yosuke murmured thoughtfully.

"Yosuke's pretty worn out… This world isn't made for humans. It's not comfortable for you here. I don't hear any more voices. I think we're done with this place. Let's go back."

Just like that Jiraiya and I were dismissed. We reappeared in what seemed to a be a lobby of a hotel. It was empty besides Jiraiya and I. I calmly sat on one of the couches, refusing to show any sign that would indicate that I was in pain. Showing weakness to a possible enemy would just encourage attack. Right now I didn't exactly trust Jiraiya. Did Jiraiya truely side with Amenosargiri? Seemed like it. 'So you choose to side with these weak creatures even after Amenosargiri's generous offer.' I could feel Jiraiya's gaze on me as I scanned the room. Three doors besides the main doors that lead to the outside, where fog lingered I might add.

"Um..." Jiraiya started but didn't seem to know where to go from there.

After a few silent seconds I forced myself to stand as normally as possible as to not show weakness to my apparent threat. I walked to one of the doors and proceeded to open it. A bedroom. Jiraiya stayed silent as I continued to explore the area to which we were confined to. Mostly to escape so to speak. I felt threatened by staying in the same room with him. So far two bedrooms and a hallway that had led to a pool and the circuit breaker for the lighting. One of my arms lay draped across my stomach area as some attempt for support for my injured ribs, that were still flaring up in pain. I opened the next door. It led to a dining room and a little farther back, a kitchen. I started back, this time I went up the staircase which led to a bunch of higher levels of empty halls with no other doors. Strange place. What was with this place, but if we were sent here by our 'users' then it must be safe. For now anyway. Who knew about later. I slowly made my way back to the lobby where Jiraiya still waited. I removed my arm from my stomach and forced myself to stand tall. Jiraiya turned to me and opened his mouth like he was going to say something but closed it as I walked to the bedroom that I prefered. I would have him explain himself later. The room that I greatly liked had a whole wall that Was a bookshelf. A whole wall of books. What more could I ask for? I dropped my blade and pretty much just collapsed on the bed. I slept deeply that night.

* * *

"Principality! Principality!" Archangel shouted demanding his attention as he approached.

Principality looked to him expectantly.

"It's Izanagi-"

"Didn't he tell you to watch over him?" Power interrupted.

Archangel paid him no mind and continued. His powerful voice echoing around the courtroom like room.

"Izanagi has vanished."

"Wh-what?" Virtue inquired thinking that he heard wrong.

"He has vanished." Archangel repeated, this time saying it slower.

"B-bu-but didn't we save him with the spirit candle? Apsaras said that it worked-" Angel stopped.

The nine angels that were present jabbered about what to do.

"Enough!" Throne suddenly yelled over the noise. "Archangel." Archangel saluted. "Go search for him."

Archangel, with no more information needed was off.

"I refuse to lose anymore to Amenosargiri. Now we must make haste." Throne continued.

* * *

"Hey, Teddie. You said that this place is reality for people who enter, right? So that shopping district, and the weird room we saw before… Did they exist because the ones who died entered this world, and it became their reality? I guess what I'm trying to ask is… Did those places form because of the people who entered this world?" Yosuke inquired.

"I don't know. It's never happened before… But that's probably where they were when the Shadows attacked them."

"It was the same for them?" Yu questioned.

"The fog does lift here sometimes. The Shadows get really violent then. I always get so scared. I have to hide when it happens… I sensed people here twice before. But both of them disappeared after the fog lifted…"

"So let's get this straight… Senpai and that Yamano lady were thrown in here, and since they couldn't get out, they wandered around… After a while, that Shadow thing came out of them. The fog cleared, it went berserk, and it ended up killing them… Does that sound right? So if I'd been here until the fog cleared, I woulda been in much deeper trouble?" Yosuke summarized trying to make sense of it all.

"Yeah. I'm pretty sure. You were lucky. Sensei and me were here with you." Teddie explained.

"Senpai and that announcer… They were stuck here all alone… No one could save them…"

"Yosuke… They disappeared when the fog lifted. But they were safe before that. No Shadows attacked them. They attacked us, though… Maybe they've been keeping a close eye on us. They might see people who investigate this place as enemies… It'll be dangerous, but we might be able to fight them! We might be able to save people!" Teddie said with enthusiasm.

"Dammit!... Are you saying, if anyone else gets thrown in here, we can save them before they disappear!? Like how you guys saved me!?" Yosuke pretty much demanded.

"That seems to be the case." Yu agreed.

"Anyways… We need to catch the one who's throwing people in here and make him stop. Yeah… I'm finally starting to understand what's going on."

"U-Um… Hey, can I ask something too…? If Shadows are born from humans, what was Teddie born from?"

"You don't even know where you came from!? How should we know?"

"I know some things. Mostly about this world… But I don't know anything about myself. To be honest, I never thought about it until now…"

"Are you serious…? No wonder we couldn't get a straight answer out of you…"

"Will you guys… come back here…?"

"We made a promise, remember?" Yu reminded.

"You'll… keep your word?"

"Well, you're the one who said you weren't letting us out unless we do."

"Oh! Th-That's right! Okay, I'll let you out. But there's one thing. I'll be waiting for you guys here. You need to come in from the same place every time. So we can meet up."

"From the same place, huh?" Yu asked.

"You could come in from somewhere else. But then you won't end up here. You might show up somewhere I couldn't get to you. Then you'd be doooomed… Got it!?"

"Well, pretty much…"

"Oh Yosuke. Thanks Yosuke." Yu said. "You really saved us."

"Wh-what? No, you saved me. I would've died back there if you hadn't of come- Uh oh. Chie! Alright can you show us the way out?"

"Oh that's right. She must be panicked."

"Roger that! One exit comin' right up!"

"Cool… First we need to make sure there aren't any employees milling around out there…"

"Okay! Go go go! Squiiiish!"

"Ow! Hey! Watch the injuries!" Yu shouted.

"Argh! Hey! Stop squeezing, you little-Whoa!"

They landed hard on the Junes floor in front of a on the verge of crying Chie. Yu cringed in pain.

"Y-You guys came baaack…! The nerve of you guys! You are such morons! I can't believe this! You guys suck! The rope got cut off… and I had no idea what to do… I was so worried… I mean scared stiff, dammit! I hate you both!" Chie almost sobbed before she stormed off.

"I... I think that might've kinda sorta been our fault. Maybe we did go a little too far… Let's apologize to her tomorrow. I'm completely wiped out… I'm gonna go home, soak in the shower for a while, and get some sleep. I think… I'm gonna sleep well tonight. Hehe… Well, see you in the morning!"

I pulled out his umbrella and started the long walk home. On the walk back I spotted a familiar face which I approached. Sure I wanted to get home and rest but what would be the harm?

"Hm? Oh... Are you surprised to see me dressed this way? My parents sent me out on as errand... Um... Are you getting use to your new town and school?" Yukiko questioned.

"I like it here. _Certainly the most exciting place I've ever been_." I answered.

"Really..? But… It must be difficult, moving to a place you know nothing about. I've never been out of Inaba, so I wouldn't know what it's like to transfer to a new school… Oh! Are you getting along with Chie? I mean, I always leave early, so… Umm…"

"Yeah, we're getting along. _Assuming that Chie takes our apology well and she doesn't hold grudges for too long_."

"I'm glad to hear that. Chie's very supportive, you know. It's always her who gives me the little extra push I need. We had homeroom together last year too, and I still remember how we'd cut class sometimes. Oh… I should get going. I need to make tomorrow's arrangements with our head chef. Our inn can't function without me right now. Um… I'll see you at school, then."

"Yup. See you later." I said as I left.

When I finally reached home. Dojima... He wasn't there. Nanako was alone. That made me feel pretty bad for being out sorta late but to make up for that I made dinner to Nanako's delight. And to my relief that she didn't seem to notice how stiff and hesitant my movements were. We sat at the table eating and watching the TV.

"Dads late..." Nanako said sadly.

"Our next story is an update in our ongoing report on the bizarre murders occurring in Inaba. At around 7:00 A.M., local high school student Saki Konishi was found dead in Inaba's residential area. Since the body was positioned similarly to the last victim, and since Ms. Konishi was the one who discovered that body… Police are proceeding under the assumption that this may be a serial murder case related to the death of Mayumi Yamano. The coroner's report has established Ms. Konishi's time of death at around 1:00 A.M. last night. The body went unnoticed until this morning as a result of the heavy fog blanketing the area." The TV announcer informed.

"Another incident… Dad won't be coming home tonight."

"I'll be here with you Nanako. Everything will be ok." I attempted to cheer her up.

"…I'll be okay. Can you help me do some stuff around the house?"

"…Amagi Inn, located upstream of Samegawa River, is the town's oldest historical landmark. Vacationers are known to travel surprising distances in order to visit its open-air, radium-rich hot springs. After the incident with Ms. Yamano, the manager has stepped aside, leaving her daughter Yukiko to fill her shoes." The reporter stated. "In other words she's a manager who's still in high school! Now that has a nice ring to it. Let's see if we a can interview her. Excuse me!"

"Hm…? Um… Are you speaking to me?"

We've heard that you're the new manager. Is it true that you're still in high school?"

"Oh, well, I'm only filling in temporarily…"

Someday, though… That aside, wow! You're looking gorgeous in that kimono. You must have a lot of male visitors."

Dang this reporter is a real creep. What's his problem? What a perv.

"Huh? No, um…"

"…This is boring. Oh, I need to do the dishes…" Nanako said getting up.

I decided to help her with that. Later that night it was still raining so I watched the midnight channel. A girl in a kimono appeared on the screen. It was very blurry so I couldn't make out any details about them. Long hair... Kimono... She seemed so familiar. What was wrong with me? Why couldn't I remember. I have to remember or its going to kill me. Could I maybe... Since I have this power. Could I reach in and pull the victim out? I hesitantly reached in. The ripples on the screen destroyed the image. Well that didn't work... I guess I'll just have to speak to Yosuke and hopefully Chie tomorrow. I went to bed welcoming the warmth that the blankets brought me as my pain was temporarily forgotten.

* * *

My eyes fluttered open. Wh-what was that? My user... was here? No. Why would he just show up for a few seconds and leave? Besides it was midnight. It had to have been my being paranoid or something.

* * *

When I... woke? Wait... This is...

"Welcome to the Velvet Room. Do not be alarmed. You are fast asleep in the real world… I have summoned you within your dreams. And so we meet again." Igor welcomed.

"This is a space that only those who have, in one way or another, entered into a contract may enter… In your daily life, you subconsciously heard the call to awaken, and you chose to follow the destiny of your inner voice …thereby enacting your glorious awakening to your power." Margaret randomly explained something like usual.

"Hold on to this…"

A.. velvet key appeared in my hands? Well that's not weird.

"From this night forward you are our guest in this Velvet destiny will require you to hone your power, and for that, you will inevitably require our help. There is but one price for this assistance… You must abide by your contract and assume responsibility for all decisions you may make."

I've never been one to have any regrets, luckily. "I understand."

"Very well. The Persona you have acquired… It is a side of yourself that shows itself when you face the world around you. Perhaps you can think of it as… a façade of determination you wear to face various difficulties in life. You Persona ability, however, is that of the wild card… Compared to that of others, it is very special. It is like the number zero… empty, yet holding infinite potential within itself."

Now that made no damn sense at all. "Empty...?"

"The Persona ability is the power to control one's own heart… And the heart is strengthened through bonds. As you form bonds by becoming involved with others, your own Social Links will gradually develop. The power of these Social Links is what will determine your Persona's abilities."

I wasn't sure I was understanding him properly but it sure sounded like he was saying I could gain vast supernatural power by making friends with people. Now that's not weird at all. "Control one's heart?"

"Social Links are necessary for more than strengthening your Persona. At times, they will help light the way to the truth you are searching for." Margaret explained.

"Where will your awakened power of the wild card take you…? I look forward to traveling the road of your destiny together… 'Til we meet again…"

I actually woke up this time, and got ready for school. Yosuke had the good sense to not nearly run me over this time. If he did I'd probably cry. No joke. The pain I had was still friggin there. If I had to go to the hospital later for 'broken ribs' or something I'd be in huge trouble. How was I going to explain that to Dojima?

"Yo! You saw what was on last night, right? I couldn't tell who it was, but if someone's shown on TV, we can't ignore it. Let's go check it out after school. Maybe Teddie can tell us something. If it turns out someone was thrown in again, there really might be a culprit behind all this. Even if it is something about that place that's killing the victims… If someone's using that world as a weapon, that's unforgivable. We need to find the culprit… no matter what it takes! There's no way the police can do it… Who'd believe that the murderer kills people by throwing them into the TV?"

Yosuke was sure as hell right about that. Anyway, regular people probably weren't going to be able to do much against those freaky monsters in TV land. "It has to be us."

" Hehe… Cool. It's reassuring to hear someone else say it. You know, I tried sticking my head inside the TV last night, the way you did, and it actually worked. I think I can do that now because I have the same power… Persona, wasn't it? Could be that we got this gift from someone specifically so we could solve this case. Then again, you managed to go inside the TV and get your Persona first… I feel like, as long as you're with me, I can find the culprit and crack this case. …Well, let's do our best!"

I suddenly heard a strange voice. Was this what Igor was talking about?

"Thou art I... and I am Thou... Thou hast established a new bond... It brings Thee closer to the truth... Thou shalt be blessed when creating Personas of the Magician Arcana..."

With that I recalled the words of that crazy old man.

"The Persona ability is the power to control one's own heart… And the heart is strengthened through bonds. As you form bonds by becoming involved with others, your own Social Links will gradually develop. The power of these Social Links is what will determine your Persona's abilities."

After-word we walked to class. Chie ran in shortly after we had arrived. She seemed upset. From what had happened yesterday?

"Uh... Chie! Um… About yesterday… We're sorry we worried you…" Yosuke started.

"Oh-never mind that. Is Yukiko still not here?" Chie interrupted.

" Huh? Y-Yukiko-san? Uh… no…? At least, I haven't seen her today."

"Oh man… What should I do…? Hey, is that stuff you were talking about for real? You know… All that about how people showing up on the Midnight Channel is related to that other world."

"Oh, we were just talking about that. We're thinking of checking it out later-"

"The person on TV yesterday… I think it was Yukiko. That kimono looks like the one she wears at the inn, a-and she wore it during the interview a few days ago too. I got worried, so I emailed her last night, but she hasn't responded… I called her earlier in the evening, though, and she said she'd be at school today… I-I…"

Could Yukiko already be in that other world? It seemed crazy, I'd just seen her myself.

"Calm down. We get the picture. And you still haven't heard from her?"

"No..."

Well this is bad... We summed up the information that we had gained for Chie.

"What's that supposed to mean…? Wait, are you saying… Yukiko was thrown in there!?"

"We don't know yet for sure. We should check to see if she's safe first. Give her another call."

"No good… Her voicemail picked up… She's not answering…"

"Are you serious…? Then is Yukiko-san inside that place…?"

"Jus-S-Stop it! Something must've come up, like an errand or something…

Oh, or she might be helping at the inn… She wouldn't be able to answer her cell if that's it…"

"Yeah, but would she skip school for that?"

"W-Well, I'll give the inn a call… Umm… I've got the number here somewhere… C'mon, Yukiko… Pick up…"

Thankfully, she picked up. Seems we'd been worrying over nothing.

"Oh is this Yukiko?! Thank God she's there!Uh-huh… Uh-huh, I see… Hm? Oh. Nah, it was nothing. I'll email you again later… *sigh * She was over at the inn. She said they had a big group reservation and she had to help out. Yeah… Now that I think about it, this has happened before, too. At least once a year. She said she'll be at the inn tomorrow, too. Oh, for crying out loud, Yosuke! You got me worried over nothing! She was totally fine! And you were all "Is Yukiko-san inside that place…?" Hmph…"

"S-Sorry… But there is a reason we thought that."

"Oh yeah…? What?"

"Well... we thought that people show up on the Midnight Channel because they're already over in that world. I mean, it makes sense, right? People show up on the TV because they're inside the TV… But Yukiko-san's still here, in our world. We might want to see what this is about. Alright, let's meet up at Junes after school."

Seemed like a good plan. Teddie could tell us for sure if something was going on in the other world.

* * *

I woke much later than I normally did. Probably because of the injuries Jiraiya gave me. I pushed myself up feeling hunger clawing at my stomach. I looked down to my blade at the side of my bed. Yeah I'm totally taking it with me. Who knows, Jiraiya might jump me or something. You can't trust anyone who sides with Amenosargiri. I pulled myself out of the bed and hefted the blade over my shoulder with a pained grunt. My ribs flaring up in pain once more in protest to the added weight which much more than I anticipated. I resisted the urge to drop it. I stiffly settled the blade back into its rightful place. How could I have just, just dropped it and left it on the ground?! This blade had saved my life countless times. I had been through much with this blade. This blade had been the only thing that I could hang onto once, when I felt I had nothing... When I felt that there was nothing more to hang onto. And I had just dropped it. Who said you can't have a bond with an item? With a sigh I started out. Plan go in and get something to eat and get out. Threat? Unknown but still there. As I walked to the door that would eventually lead to the dining room I noted the fact that Jiraiya was nowhere to be seen. Which really meant he could be anywhere. I walked the halls at a steady pace, one hand firmly grasping my blade. Was I seriously afraid of Jiraiya? I beat plenty of things tougher than him... but... I pushed open the door. I tensed at the sight if Jiraiya. He sat at one of the tables in a reclined position, like he had been waiting. And that in itself was giving me that fight or flight warning though I couldn't show it. No weakness. No weakness. I forced my body to relax to my burning ribs relief. Jiraiya looked to me with his usual cocky smile.

"I was wondering when you were going to wake up. Hungry?"

He doesn't seem like a threat. No! Keep on guard! He tried to kill you! He's a friend. He's the enemy now! He would never side- He said he'd drag you into the fog! He would never do something such as that of his own will. He mentioned an Offer! Which means he had a choice! This is Amenosargiri we're dealing with he could've- No! He became a shadow and now you need to get away before- He would never- He is going- Friend- Foe- Friend- Foe-!... My silence caught his attention. He retreated from his reclined position and turned in his chair to face me, his smile slipping from his face slightly.

"Um... Listen..."

I took half a step back when he shifted his position. Mistake! You damn idiot! You can't show weakness remember?!

"... Um... About..."

I retreated when he stood. Get out. Get away. Get away. I sped up a bit when I heard Jiraiya's pursuit.

"Izanagi, wait. I know you're probably really pissed at me-"

I increased my speed as much as my injured ribs would allow when Jiraiya drew much too close making me feel all the more threatened.

"Would you wait?! At least say something!"

I pushed the door open and exited into the lobby. I was so close. Almost to my room where I could feel even mildly safe. Jiraiya moved quickly in jumping one of the couches and blocking my path. I halted and tried to move past him. He stuck out his arm. Great. Trapped.

"I'm sorry ok?! I don't know what happened. I just- I don't know! I-... I-... Well?! Say something dammit!" Jiraiya pretty much raged to which I took a step back. "Oh no! You're not escaping now!"

Jiraiya slammed a hand onto my shoulder sending pain rushing through my body. Which earned a pained gasp and a wince out of me. Enemy! Enemy enemy enemy! Escape! Jiraiya's eyes widened in realization. He slowly brought his hand back.

"I- I- I hurt you...?" Jiraiya whispered as the memory of him crushing Izanagi came rushing back. "I- I'm sorry! I- I- I- I didn't mean it! I swear! I- I can- Here! Let me heal you!"

I backed away from Jiraiya's outstretched hand like he was going to strike me. All my muscles screaming for me to run.

"Please. I can help."

* * *

When we got there after school we explained in detail this time of what we found.

"O-Okay, I think that's more than enough about my sorry escapades." Yosuke interrupted.

"If I hadn't seen the place first hand… I'd never have believed a story like that."

"Yeah, no kidding. Anyways, we need to know what's going on inside-"

"Wh-How? By talking to that Teddie guy?"

"Yeah. Too bad there's so many customers around… I forgot there's a sale in the electronics department today… I got it! C'mere a sec. Try sticking your hand in and calling him over. I bet that bear's wandering around the entrance anyway. Hey Chie, stand over here. Make a wall with me."

"A wall?"

I stuck my hand in, and regretted it very quickly. I beckoned Teddie over, hopefully Teddie anyway. I felt sharp teeth dig into my hand. I jerked my hand back with a yelp.

"Wh-What's wrong!?"

"Shhh! Not so loud, you idiot! D-Dude, is that a bite mark!? Are you okay!?"

"I'm fine." I responded as I massaged my injured hand.

"That's good… Sheesh, that stupid bear must've done it… Hey, you! We know you're in there!"

"Ooh ooh, is this a game?"

"No, it's not a game! Can you sense anyone inside there right now?"

"Who's "anyone"? I'm a lonely little bear like always. This land feels so bear-ren…"

I really hope this isn't the start of a bear joke trend. Anyway, we need to watch again tonight and see if it's the same as before.

"Shut it!So there's no one inside…? You're sure?" Chie demanded.

"I-I'm not lying! My nose is running as good as ever!"

"… I'm gonna go warn Yukiko anyway. Since she'll be busy this weekend helping out at the inn, I doubt she'd go anywhere alone, but still…"

"Yeah… You'll walk with her to school on Monday, right?"

"Sure, I'll go pick her up at her house."

"Maybe we'll find out more on tonight's Midnight Channel. Cross your fingers that this is all just a misunderstanding… What's your cell number? I'll call you when I watch it tonight. I exchanged cell numbers with Yosuke."

"Alright, don't forget to watch tonight."

I nodded and we all headed out. Nothing more for us to do here. As I was walking I felt a sharp pain in my ribs. I fell to the ground splashing muddy water all over me. I gasped for breath and waited for the pain to subside a little so I could make it home. When I finally did get home Dojima wasn't there. Again.

**So any opinions on what I am doing right? Any on what I am doing wrong? Any suggestions? I love constructive crits. So don't be shy to let me hear your opinion! If not sit back and enjoy whatever comes your way.**


	3. Chapter 3

My whole day had been focused around avoiding Jiraiya. Not such an easy task when the person you were trying to avoid was concentrating on finding you and making it up to you. So things weren't going too well for me. I sat at one of the empty tables happy to finally have something in my stomach. One hand firmly gripped my blade like before. The door opened which made me stop and set down what I was about to eat.

"Leave." I said simply but you didn't have to be a genius to sense the threat in my voice.

"I can help. It, it wasn't me-"

"Then who was it?" My voice still had an edge to it.

"I- um. It's kind of hard to explain. I'm not sure I can..."

"Go."

"Huh?"

"Leave. Now."

"B-but it's my fault you're hurt and, and I can help."

"You tried to kill me and right now I just don't trust you." I said bluntly as I decided to take another bite. Might as well eat while I can.

"No I didn't- I-"

"Then what were you trying to do?"

"I- I don't know ok." Jiraiya said sounding desperate.

I seemed to turn my attention back to my meal but kept my full attention was on Jiraiya. He turned into a shadow once when he was denied. Who said he wouldn't turn again.

"I remember all this fog..." Jiraiya started thoughtfully.

"Fog?" I questioned looking up.

"Um yeah. Is... that bad?"

"What else do you remember?"

Jiraiya looked down. "Um..."

"Did you get attacked by shadows?"

Jiraiya looked up. "Well yeah."

"Did you lose all detail and just become a... dark silhouette?"

"Y-yeah. H-"

"Did you hear a voice. That... originated from deeper in the fog?"

"Yeah but how? How did you know? Didn't you say you got pulled back?"

I nodded. "I got pulled back by a spirit candle when he asked me 'what I seek' or something... So you followed the voice and... joined Amenosargiri."

"No I didn't!"

"Explain."

"Huh?"

"Explain what happened when you followed the voice."

"Uh... I... couldn't breath. The fog got so thick that breathing was getting difficult... But I had gone so far and I feared that I had gone too far to turn back... so I just kept going... Next thing I knew I got attacked by the shadows that I had been running from before. They just kept attacking but I couldn't fight back anymore. I was dizzy from the lack of oxygen I guess. And I... I don't remember anything after that..."

"Hmph." I turned back to my meal once again.

My hand finally releasing the hilt of my sword. Jiraiya noticed this and took a step forward.

"Are you-... Do you want me to..."

"No."

"You still don't trust me?"

"You turned once. Who says whatever possessed you before won't take over again."

"I won't.-"

"And how do you know that?"

"... I'm sorry."

"I know."

* * *

Archangel flew back to the other angels. Empty handed to his and everyone elses dismay. He walked in sullenly. He had lost the one he was suppose to keep an eye on. He felt that he had lost his honor. They looked to him. The small flame of hope that they still had was extinguished by Archangels sullen look.

"You... didn't find him, did you?" Virtue asked.

Archangel shook his head.

"He's not gone. He can't be."

All of the angels turned their gazes to Apsaras who appeared behind Archangel.

* * *

I stood in front of my dark TV. Tick tick tick click. The Midnight Channel. Ok it was definitely Yukiko this time. No mistaking it. The picture was much clearer. She wore a pink ball gown and help a microphone. Her smile was confident. This was not the Yukiko I knew. She went on and on about how she was to 'score herself a hot stud.' Right before she ran off into the castle. Not even a minute after the show ended Yosuke called.

"H-hey did you see that?!That was Yukiko-san for sure! It looked like her, and I mean, she even said her name! But didn't the stuff she was saying sound weird!? And she looked like she was on some low-budget TV show… Was it like this before, too? What's going on…?"

"Nevermind that. We need to get in contact with Yukiko." I reasoned.

"Y-Yeah, I know. Uhhh… Crap, I don't know her number… Oh yeah, I can just call Chie! Tomorrow's Sunday, so let's meet up at Junes first thing in the morning!"

"Yeah. See you then."

I lay in bed since it was already midnight and if Dojima did come home he'd get a little angry and probably lecture me about the rules of the house again. I suddenly felt a sharp pain. I curled up my breathing labored. Must've lay down too roughly.

* * *

"Come on! I can help!"

"No." I said firmly.

"Bu-"

"No."

"I-"

"No."

I was pretty glad when he stayed silent after that. I turned the page and looked at the clock. Midnight. I guess it would be best if I went to bed. I closed the book and stood. I yelped and fell back feeling a sharp pain. What the heck?

"SEE?!" Jiraiya demanded as he stood.

Jiraiya drew closer. I couldn't get in the breath to order him back due to my labored breathing. Get away. Enemy enemy. I unsteadily reached for my blade that sat up against the couch. Jiraiya gripped my wrist.

"Why don't you trust me? I told you everything and you even admitted to almost getting lured yourself. I didn't mean to hurt anyone... I swear I didn't mean it."

I stayed silent. I searched for any dark pulses like when he was a mirror image of Yosuke. Nothing. I... guess. Maybe now that he had his own user he... was ok now? I slowly brought my hand back.

"... Are you... going to let me?"

I nodded. Jiraiya's usual cocky smile came back.

"Ok. Stay still."

* * *

I woke and headed downstairs where Nanako was waiting. Though I felt tired I felt as if I was steadily building energy. I guess Izanagi was still sleeping. That thought made me feel kind of bad. That meant that I was draining him of his energy, didn't it?

"Oh good morning."

"Well you're up early Nanako. Something wrong?"

"No. Dad woke up early so I woke up with him."

"Ah."

Now what? I can't just leave her home all alone.

"Are you going somewhere?"

"Oh ah. I was um."

"You can go. I'll be fine by myself. It happens all the time."

"Thanks Nanako. Feel free to call if you need anything."

"Um could you make ginger pork again tonight?"

"Oh sure. But do you want some breakfast before I leave?"

"Yeah!" Nanako cheered.

I made a large breakfast. I guess I could make up for sapping his energy by eating for both of us. Hopefully it worked that way.

"I'll be back soon ok?"

"Ok. See you later then?"

"Yep."

I headed out. I waited in the Junes food court for awhile. I tapped my foot and shifted my position several times before Yosuke finally decided to show up.

"Sorry about the hold up. I was just looking for something."

"Looking for som-?"

"Listen. We have our Personas and all but we need our own weapons and a cheap golf club isn't that great of a weapon."

Yosuke then pulls out a couple of swords.

"So which one strikes your fancy?"

"Wh-wh-wh-where did you get that?! You idiot! Put it away!"

"Huh?"

Just like that a cop approached.

"Drop the weapons!"

"What? But we didn't. We're just a couple of kids who like weapons-"

I hit him.

"Put the weapons down now! We'll listen to your story at the station. Hands where I can see them, too! I said now!"

"B-But… This isn't…"

And like an idiot Yosuke held out the swords, blades pointed at the cop.

"Are you resisting an officer of the law!? Y-You're under arrest!"

And he got us arrested. Idiot. It's a good thing I'm related to a detective.

"I can't believe this. You didn't seem like the type to pull a stupid stunt like that."

"I didn't do anything." I attempted to defend myself.

"Doesn't matter. You know what's been going on around town. We got men stationed everywhere. For god's sake… You're lucky I was around, or this would have ended up on your permanent record."

"We're sorry…" Yosuke responded.

"We're. What do you mean We're? I just came to Junes like you asked-"

"I thought-"

"Thought what?"

Dojima just shook his head. That was when two of the other cops walked by. Their casual conversation brought our worst fears to life.

"So the one who disappeared was the Amagi girl?"

"Seems like it… But she's just a high schooler, you know. Could be that she decided to run away from home…"

"Hey… Did he say Amagi…? Then… she really is…" Yosuke started.

"Hm? Who's that now?" Dojima questioned.

"Oh, uh, nothing…"

"I'm sure you've seen on the news that there's an investigation in progress… We're sensitive about certain things. You're free to go. But this better not happen again." Dojima said as he walked off.

As we walked off to leave we almost bumped right into that detective who threw up at the first crime scene.

"Woah, pardon me. Huh? Aren't you the kid staying at Dojima-san's place?"

"Oh…! Uh, can we ask you something? It's about Yukiko-san… I mean, Yukiko Amagi of the Amagi Inn… Did something happen to her?"

"Huh? Oh, umm… Am I allowed to say…? Well, if you're friends with Ms. Amagi… Keep this between us, okay? We got a call from Ms. Amagi's parents yesterday evening saying they couldn't find her anywhere. Since it was the weekend, the workers at the inn were extremely busy, and no one saw Ms. Amagi around that time. Oh, but that doesn't necessarily mean this is a case just yet! But, people've been turning up dead on foggy days… So we're really sensitive to stuff like this. By the way, did she say anything to you guys about maybe going through some hard times?"

"Hard times? Nooo." I answered.

"Well, that announcer, Ms. Yamano, was staying at the Amagi Inn before the first murder. Seems Ms. Yamano had some harsh words for the manager about the staff's attitude towards guests. The stress of it caused the manager to collapse. And with Ms. Amagi being the manager's daughter… She must've felt pretty strongly about the incident, y'know. By the way, did Ms. Amagi ever hint that she might be leaving the house? 'Cause if not, there's been some theories floating around that she's laying low for some reason or another... Crap, I think I've gone too far. You didn't hear that, okay?"

"Adachi, what the hell are you chatting with civvies for!? And where's my coffee!?" We heard Dojima shout.

"S-Sorry! I got it right here! Psst! Forget I said anything! Please!" Adachi begged.

"Do you think that detective-" Yosuke started.

"There you are! Sheesh, what're you guys doing!? I've been looking everywhere!" Chie cut in.

"Uh, well, there was a slight misunderstanding… We'll tell you about it later. Anyways, something's up with Yukiko-san!" Yosuke started.

"Huh? You know already!? I kept calling her cell, but she didn't pick up… So I went to her house, and it turns out Yukiko really did disappear…!" Chie interrupted.

"I guess we've got no choice but to go now… But that aside, the cops are saying some weird stuff. They think Yukiko-san's hiding to "lay low"… Apparently, Yukiko-san's mom collapsed because that announcer's lady bitched her out. They think that gives her a motive, and the fact that the announcer died right after makes her even more suspicious…"

"What!? They think Yukiko did it!? What the hell is wrong with them!?"Chie demanded.

"Dude, don't snap at me! Yukiko's the victim here, dammit, not the suspect…"

They both seemed pretty agitated… We needed to focus on what was important.

"Come on guys. Calm down. If we're fighting amongst ourselves we can't save Yukiko." I pointed out.

"R-Right! That's the important thing!" Chie agreed.

"With the police totally on the wrong track, we've gotta handle it ourselves." Yosuke added.

"I'm going too! And that's final! I'm going to save Yukiko no matter what!"

"Are you gonna be all right…? But man… They just confiscated our weapons. We can't go in empty-handed…" Yosuke realized.

"Weapons…? I know just the place! C'mon, follow me!"

Chie's obsession with martial arts movies worked in our favor that day. She brought us to some weapon shop.

"Here we are!"

"Wh-What kind of shop is this…?" Yosuke demanded as he looked around.

"A metalworks… I guess? They sell all sorts of metal crap… like katanas and stuff."

"Doesn't that seem weird to you!? Why would you know about a place like this anyway? Oh, I get it… You watched one too many kung-fu movies, and…"

"It's not that at all! I overheard some guys in our class talk about it. They said this place sells weapons and armor. Here, this one looks good. Oh, but it might be too heavy…"

"I dunno, Chie… I still think it's too dangerous. I know how you feel, but-"

"You don't! You don't know shit about how I feel… Yukiko might die from this, for crying out loud! I'm going, and that's that!"

There was no point trying to stop her. At the same time, though, she didn't know what kind of horrors were waiting for us in that place.

"Ok you can come but you have to stay close. I don't want to be responsible for your corpse." I gave in.

"Psh, I'll be fine! My reflexes are second to none!"

"Listen… I'm not kidding around. You don't know what it's like in there! If you're not gonna listen to our warnings, we're leaving you here! If you insist on coming, just make sure you have something to protect yourself." Yosuke continued to warn.

"Alright…"

"But man, what should we get…? Hey,Yu. Mind picking out something for me, too? You're our main asset in battle right now, so I think you should choose whatever makes it easiest for you."

"I got my stuff all picked out! How about you guys?"

Yosuke did learn from our earlier mistake to my relief. If he was all like now lets go and ran out with those weapons that were friggin expensive I might I add. I probably would have struck him down right there myself.

"If we just wear this stuff around town we'll just get picked up again. But it's not like we can just walk into Junes with a sack full of gear and expect no one to notice either."

"Why not conceal them under our uniforms? I don't think people would notice." Chie offered.

"Okay… Let's try that. Alright, let's split up and get ready. The store'll be crowded until the afternoon sale ends, and if we walk around together the cops might get suspicious."

"Then I'll see you guys at the Junes food court!"

I walked out of the metal works shop as Chie described it and I quickly noticed something that wasn't there before. A door. A freaky blue velvet door with elaborate designs.

"So it finally begins. Now if you'll give me a moment of your time." The voice of Igor sounded in my head as the velvet key that had mysteriously appeared in my pocket started shining.

Alright. Suck it up and enter Narukami. I entered.

"We have been expecting you."

No Really?!

"The catastrophe that is headed your way… It has already taken human lives in its approach towards you… But you have nothing to fear. You already have the power to fight against it. It seems that the time for you to use your Persona has come…" Igor said with a chuckle.

"Your Persona ability is that of the wild card. If you strengthen your bonds properly, their power will help you overcome any ordeal. Our role is to facilitate that." Margaret pretty much repeated from last time.

"My contribution… is to give birth to new Personas. By mixing together multiple Persona cards, I can transmute them into a new form… This, in other words, is the fusion of Persona. You have the power to hold multiple Personas and to use them accordingly. When you defeat an enemy, the seeds of possibility you attain will appear before you as cards. At times, they may be hard to grasp… but you must master your fear and reach out to them." Igor futilely explained.

Yeah I had no idea what the hell he was talking about there I have to admit.

"When you obtain new cards please do not hesitate to bring them here. If you have been developing your Social Links, then your Persona will gain even more power… They will be one of your chief sources of strength… You would do well to take this to heart."

Thats when I recalled that you have the Magician Social Link with Yosuke… It seems that when a Persona of the Magician Arcana is fused, that Persona will gain even more power…? Well that made sense. So making friends with people give you vast supernatural power and the stronger that forcefully made bond is you get more power? The more clingy someone gets the stronger you get?

"The tome you see in my hand is the Persona Compendium. Registering the Personas you hold will allow you to recall them at any time. Please see me when you wish to use it." Margaret told me.

Then Igor had a warning for me. Great. And I wasn't being sarcastic this time. It was great to get some form of warning and not just shooting in the dark.

"Do you recall my words to you from before?" Igor questioned.

"The coming year is a turning point in my destiny and... if the mystery goes unsolved, my future may be forever lost?"

"I meant precisely what I said. Defeat in battle is not the only way your journey may come to an end…

Please do not forget this. When next we meet, you will come here for your own will. I look forward to it. Until then… farewell."

I left the Velvet Room and headed back to change. We didn't know what might be waiting for us in the TV, but with Yukiko's life on the line we had no choice but to meet the challenge head on. When I got there the others were already waiting.

"We really stick out don't we? I guess that has something to do with how we're wearing our school uniforms on a Sunday. The sale should end soon, so that'll get rid of some of the people wandering around here. Alright… let's get going. Chie, it's not too late to-" Yosuke attempted to talk her out of it.

"I'm going!"

"Fine, but don't push yourself, got it!?"

We headed to the TV world. We scanned the area for any people who might be around. We saw none and entered.

* * *

I had to admit that I felt much better today. I bet my user noticed that as well. Jiraiya had on his usual cocky grin when I walked out.

"Since when do you sleep in?"

"Since I started needing to." I answered.

"Needing to? Oh. You still recovering from..." Jiraiya looked down. "Sorry."

"Forget it. But yeah. We both are and for some reason he was up until midnight-"

"So were you."

"And even though it's a Sunday he didn't sleep in-"

"So you're sleeping for both of you now?"

"At the moment. Yes. I really hope it doesn't become a regular thing."

"So I'm guessing you're really hungry now."

"... Well no. Not at all actually."

"Great you're both stealing from each other."

I guess my silence made him think that I didn't get it so he continued.

"He's stealing your energy and you're stealing his nutrition."

I was about to say something back but I stopped. We both froze. Our users were in the world of the shadows. With no explanation needed we were off.

* * *

"Whoa it really is that bear from last time..." Chie said in awe.

"What're you doing?" Yosuke asked.

"Can't you tell? I'm thinking about stuff."

Has he really been thinking about himself all this time…?

"Have you seriously-" I stopped taking notice of the transparent forms of our Personas. Good. They were here. Now we could definitely rescue Yukiko.

"I've been deli-bear-ating over it for a long time now. Hey, that wasn't a bad joke. Heehee…!"

"…So… did you figure anything out? Eh, it's probably useless to think about it too much. I've seen the inside of your skull, and it was empty." Yosuke responded.

"How rude! You're right, though. I try and try but nothing comes out of my head."

"Will you guys shut up?! Now's not the time for stupid jokes!" Chie raged.

Chie wasn't in the mood to sit around and chat though.

"Listen… Someone came here yesterday, right?" Chie asked.

"Wow! There's a girl with a better nose than me!? What's your name, Miss?"

"M-Miss? Uh… I'm Chie. But never mind that! Tell me more about that "someone"!"

"I think it happened a little after I talked with you guys. After that, it felt like someone was here."

"Is it Yukiko-san!?" Chie demanded.

"I don't know. I haven't looked… The presence is over that way. That's probably where they are." Teddie responded.

"Over there, huh…? Is everyone ready?" Chie demanded.

"Y-yeah! But Chie-" Yosuke answered.

"Then lets go then!"

* * *

Jiraiya and I stood there watching the scene. Who was this girl?

"Well she's patient." I said as I watched the girl run off.

"I know right?" Yosuke replied to my comment before heading off after her.

We followed them to this huge castle. Jiraiya whistled at the sight.

"This is the same castle that was shown on the Midnight Channel." Yu stated.

"You're positive that no one's behind a camera for that bizarre midnight program?" Yosuke inquired.

"Program…? I don't know. Maybe people on your side can see stuff in this world. It might be that. And I told you before! There's only me and Shadows here! There's no "camera" stuff going on. This world has been like this from the beginning." The bear shadow answered.

"From the beginning"…? That's what we don't understand!"

"I dunno… Can you guys explain everything about your world? I've never seen this "program" thingy before. So I don't know."

"Well… is that really what's happening? Are we really looking into this world? Because the first time Yukiko showed up on that channel was before she disappeared. Doesn't that seem off? I mean, Yukiko saying stuff like "score myself a hot stud"? That's not like her at all!" Yu pointed out.

"Score"? "Stud"?"

_'Things like that sure do seem like the opposite of how Yukiko normally acts. Suspiciously so.' Yu thought._

_"Yukiko? Is that the reason why we are here? For this Yukiko?" I questioned._

_'Yeah. She disappeared and she ended up here. Someone has been throwing people into this world and when the fog appears in our world that person who disappeared dies.'_

_"They... die. What about this program that the energetic one mentioned?"_

_'Well the person who is going to go missing shows up on this show that people call the Midnight Channel at midnight if you couldn't guess. It's difficult to tell who it is so we couldn't stop whoever it was from taking Yukiko but the picture of her was clear last night so we came today to save her and as you can see Chie caught on and now... Yeah.'_

"Now that's damn big. How do you find one girl in there?" Jiraiya asked.

"Two girls." I answered reading the different energy pulses. "Both... Normal I guess you could say. The one called Chie is moving rather quickly through the castle but... seems to be losing stamina rather quickly. Is that-...?"

"Wait a sec. You can tell who's in there?" Yosuke asked me.

"Who're you talking to Yosuke?" The bear asked.

"Looks like the bear can't see us." Jiraiya laughed. "I bet he thinks you're crazy Yosuke. And I wouldn't blame him either. Talking to thin air. What a moron."

"Shut up Jiraiya!" Yosuke snapped.

"Jiraiya?"

"We need to hurry. Chie has stopped on the second floor... Something isn't right."

"What do you mean?" Yu questioned.

"Sensei? Why are you guys talking to the air?"

Yu sighed and summoned me. "Persona."

I solidified and soon so did Jiraiya.

"Whoa! So they've been here the whole time?!"

"It's that same dark pulse that I picked up from Jiraiya when he was a shadow."

Jiraiya looked down. "Hehe. Sorry about... trying to crush you."

I shook my head. "Quit apologizing. Now we need to hurry before Chie gets killed by Tomoe."

"Tomoe?" Jiraiya asked. "She got lured out too?"

I dashed in with Yu after we went back to our transparent forms. Yosuke, Jiraiya, and the bear thing soon followed.

"Um, wait a second! The Shadows have gotten aggravated ever since you two got here. They'll probably attack as soon as they find you, Sensei. So try to get the jump on Shadows before they can attack you!" The bear quickly gave his advice.

Soon enough we ran into the dark masses of shadows. It was the same type that attacked us before we went on to fight Jiraiya. Jiraiya got into an attack position with Yosuke even though he couldn't fight in that form. I crossed my arms and watched with minor interest as Yu readied his blade. The first shadow lunged. Poor thing was gonna die. That is if Yosuke could pull it off. Yosuke clumsily evaded but he wasn't quick enough to counter. I guess we couldn't expect much. This was his first battle after all. The other two shadows followed the first ones example and attacked. Yu waited up until the last second. Hands tightening on the hilt of his sword. Muscles tensing slightly and getting ready to lift the heavy blade. He swung. There was some slight improvement from the fight with Jiraiya but there was definitely room for improvement. The shadow perished at the weight of the blow. Good now move before you get hit yourself. Yu evaded and Yosuke entered in his own blow. One more. The last shadow was an easy kill. Not great but good enough for these low leveled shadows. We continued at a quick pace through the halls. The first dark pulse which was Tomoe wasn't moving but it was slowly building in strength. As for the second... It was moving quickly through the halls and darting here and there though the castle. The human that we were here for was pretty high up. Though I couldn't place where she was exactly I could tell she hadn't moved.

**Any questions or concerns? No? Ok...**


	4. Chapter 4

_'Has Chie moved at all?'_

_I looked to Yu as we ran. "No. She's still on the second floor."_

_'Is Yukiko ok?'_

_"I think so..."_

_'You think so? Where is she?'_

_"Life pulses are affected by distance so I can't tell exactly where she is."_

We slid to a stop. Shadows. And a lot of them.

"Yosuke." Yu said without looking to him.

He seemed to have gotten the hit because both Jiraiya and I materialized at about the same time. Our turn, huh? Well this should be fun. The bear shadow named Teddie whimpered behind us. I waited along with Jiraiya for our signal to attack. We did so on command only. Our signal was our users taking a battle stance. Yu and I took the right side and Yosuke and Jiraiya the left. Things seemed to be going rather well or at least I thought so. I wasn't paying much attention to Yosuke and Jiraiya. Just Yu and the shadows we fought. These things were too easy. I cut them down in one shot whether the strike was solid or not. They were much too weak and I grew bored quickly. Tomoe was going to be hell for Yosuke and Jiraiya, especially compared to these pathetic things.

"These are SO boring!" Jiraiya cried.

"What do you mean Boring?!" Yosuke demanded.

"Well my Oh So Powerful User. We the Persona have fought much more powerful shadows than the likes of these things. These things are nothing. Right Izanagi?"

"You might want to focus on our unavoidable battle with Tomoe. She holds your weakness so you better come up with a good strategy so neither of you get murdered in one hit. And don't overlook the fact that she really doesn't like you so she'd probably aim for you even if her element wasn't your weakness."

"R- right. Sorry pal."

We were soon moving on. As we moved on Tomoe's pulse seemed to grow stronger still. Not as strong as Jiraiya had been thankfully.

"There's the staircase. Chie still there?" Yu asked me.

"Yep!" Teddie replied instead.

"Hey he was-" Jiraiya started but I cut him off.

"He can't see or hear us, remember?" I reminded.

"Oh right."

We stood before the door which Yu opened to find Chie.

"Chie! Are you alright?! Chie?" Yosuke questioned.

Chie seemed to be listening to something.

"She said that red looks good on me…" Came the voice of the girl that we were looking for.

"Yukiko-san!?" Yosuke asked searching the room for the source of the voice.

"I hated my name… Yukiko… "Snow"… Snow is cold and it melts quickly… It's transient… worthless… But it's perfect for me… Apart from inheriting the inn, I'm worthless… Still… Chie told me that red looks good on me." Yukiko's voice continued to echo through the room. Just like that Saki girl's.

"Are these… Yukiko-san's inner thoughts? I remember hearing Saki-senpai's, too…" Yosuke asked.

Hah! I knew it. But what did this have to do with Personas disappearing and getting partnered up to humans?

"Yeah. This castle is probably here because of this Yukiko person." Teddie informed.

"Yukiko…" Chie said sadly.

"Chie was the only one who gave my life meaning... She's bright and strong, and she can do anything… She has everything that I don't… Compared to Chie, I'm… I'm… Chie protects me… She looks after my worthless life… And I… I don't deserve any of it… Chie is so kind…" Yukiko's thoughts said sadly. Just as sad as Chie's.

"Yukiko, I-I…" Chie tried to start. But then things got bad.

"'Chie is so kind," huh? What a joke."

"Wh-what?" Chie stuttered upon seeing a 'second her.'

Looks like Tomoe finally decided to show her face.

"Oh man... Is that...?!" Yosuke asked.

"It's just like Yosuke!" Teddie panicked. "She lost control over her suppressed self! Now it's a Shadow!"

Wha-? How is- How did Tomoe become her suppressed self? This made no sense.

"Izanagi? What is that bear talking about?" Jiraiya inquired just as confused as I was if not more so.

"Shh! Watch Tomoe's movements closely."

"Are we talking about THAT Yukiko!? She says I'm protecting her!? She says she's worthless! *chuckle * That's how it should be, right?" Tomoe chuckled.

"Wh-What're you saying?" Chie demanded.

"Yukiko's sooo good looking… sooo fair-skinned… so feminine… She's the one all the guys drool over. When Yukiko looked at me with such jealousy… Man, did I get a charge out of that. Yukiko knows the score. She can't do anything if I'm not around… I'm better than her… Much, much better!" Tomoe pressed.

"No! I have never thought that!" Chie shouted.

Great one quick to jump to conclusions and a hot head. What a fun little group.

"Wh-What're we gonna do?" Yosuke asked my user.

_'Duh, Yosuke. What the hell else are we gonna do?'_ "We need to protect Chie." Yu explained.

I was amused slightly by the thought he had before answering.

"We need to protect Chie-chan right now!" The bear echoed.

"N-No, don't come near me! Don't look at me!" Chie yelled.

I guess no one could blame her. All her inner thoughts were just spewed out by what they all believed to be their friends 'inner self.'

"Chie, calm down!" Yosuke demanded.

"No… No, this isn't me!"

"W-Wait, stupid! Don't say anything else like that!" Yosuke warned.

"*chuckle * That's right. I'm the one who can't do anything alone… I can't win as a girl, let alone as a person… I'm pathetic. But Yukiko… She depends on me… *chuckle * That's why she's my friend… I'll never loosen my grip on her… She's too important to me."

"No… That is not how I think of her…"

"*chuckle * So, you're just gonna turn your back and deny me again? But things are different now. When the time comes… I'll be the one left standing. You won't mind right? I'm still you."

_"Things are getting bad."_

_'Yeah. I noticed. Any suggestions?'_

_"Make sure to watch her movements closely. There tends to be hints in her body language that will give away her next attack."_

"Shut up! You're…" Chie raged.

"Chie, no!" Yu and Yosuke both yelled.

"You're not me!"

Oh just great.

"*chuckle * Heehee… Ahahahahahaha!"

Chie let out a yell of fear before collapsing when Tomoe changed shape, just like Yosuke. Great time to take a nap...

"Chie!" Yosuke panicked.

_"Ooh. Does he have the hots for her?"_

_'Nice thought but not the best time.'_

"I-It's coming! You have to use your powers to save Chie-chan!" Teddie yelled again.

What was he a broken record? Once again we were thrown into battle with someone's twisted reflection.

"I am a shadow... The true self... What do you guys think you're doing? Trying to defend the "real" me? Then you're gonna pay the price!"

"Shut up! Quit being such a pain! Chie… Just hang in there a little longer…" Yosuke glared.

"Hah… Think you can stop me that easy!?" Tomoe demanded.

_"Shadow Chie is another easy boss."_

_'You think the last fight was easy?'_

_"Shut up and listen. She's got a Weakness to Wind. If we open up with a Wind attack we'll have an advantage but the problem is that she casts Green Wall, which will make her resist Wind instead of being weak to it for a bit. Most of her offense comes in the form of physical attacks in this case I guess it's going to be whipping attacks, but she does have one other little trick up her sleeve. Mazio. It's important that you have Yosuke guard through this, because Tomoe will do a follow-up if she gets him knocked down. As long as he doesn't fall victim to this, we should be able to blow through Shadow Chie faster than we did Shadow Yosuke."_

"Ahahahaha! How lame! You're all so deadly serious and we've only gotten started."

This was going to be a fun battle. Tomoe sat on a tower of three Chie's. Oh I get it. Because Chie uses people. Tomoe's gaze traveled to Yosuke.

_"Quick have him Guard!"_ Why was I thinking this? He could hear me. "Yosuke guard!"

Although I gave him a warning he paid me no mind. Hey hey hey. You don't just ignore us. We are here to help you! Damn idiot. Just like I predicted Tomoe cast Mazio which knocked Yosuke to the ground. Jiraiya let out a pained cry.

"Dam it Yosuke!" Jiraiya cursed.

Tomoe, like the battle expert she was struck Yosuke while he was down. Great. For once I was wishing my predictions were wrong. This was not going as well as I had hoped.

"Jiraiya!" Tomoe screeched in rage upon spotting his ghostly form.

"Call me." I ordered Yu who obeyed without question. I held my blade out to her. "Still angry at him? You need to learn to let that stuff go."

I thought two months was enough. Heck not even a month for something so little.

"How are you still alive?! Jiraiya was suppose to kill you!" She raged swinging her whip at me.

I took a calm but quickstep to the side to evade such a simple attack.

"Are you kidding? Someone kill Izanagi? Your ass is grass-" Jiraiya taunted.

"Stay out of this if you want to keep your head." I warned. Make her any more angry she'd... well Jiraiya would end up dead in seconds.

I leaped back to avoid the next strike. Learn a new attack. After a few seconds of her swinging her whip at me since she realized she had no hope of hitting Jiraiya in that form she stopped. She seemed to be thinking.

"Come on Yosuke. Get up." Yu ordered.

Jiraiya yelped when Yu pulled up Yosuke. I guess she hit him harder than I thought but then again he was hit with his weakness. That hurt a ton. An evil smile spread across her face just then. Uh oh. Raising her whip high she swung. Yu tensed feeling the whip strike his flesh. I bit my lip under my mask. No indication that the move hurt at all but she knew the connection already and so she swung again. I rushed forward. More pain.

"Yosuke call me!"

_"No you idiot! She'll aim for you and she holds your- oh nevermind. No one ever listens to me anyway."_ I took the attack. I was more durable so it didn't hurt as much.

_'I listen to you.'_

I smiled under my mask at that. I heard Jiraiya get into his fighting stance. Guess he called him. Come on. Come on. Get back hurry. I really don't want to end up like last time. After all I was just standing there blocking the attacks so they could get away. I warned him! I bloody warned him! Now he's stuck on the ground because of the paralyzing shock. Lucky Jiraiya could move, even though his moves were slowed he could move. Tomoe was just sitting there laughing and enjoying every minute of this. I could hear Jiraiya fastly approaching.

"Forget about me?!"

"No!" She yelled casting her lightning spell again.

Jiraiya hit the ground. I took that chance to attack. I struck her hard enough to knock her off her little tower. She hit the ground with a thud. She stood and glared at me. Still a hot head, huh?

* * *

"Still a hot head, huh?" Izanagi thought as he continued to fight Tomoe, as he had called her.

"Come on Yosuke you can do this. Stand up."

"It's not that easy man." Yosuke said wincing.

"Pull yourself together Yosuke." Jiraiya ordered pulling himself back up. "We need to help Izanagi."

Yosuke struggled to do so but finally did. We heard Tomoe grunt as she hit a wall. The chandeliers on the ceiling swayed slightly.

"Damn you." She said spitting blood but stood.

* * *

We had to end this fast. She was tough and wasn't about to go down so easy.

"Izanagi move!"

I didn't care who said it or why. I got back. Tomoe screamed as pain rushed through her. Engulfing her senses. Owch. If I had been just a bit closer... Tomoe dropped to the ground when the wind spell faded.

"We got her!" Jiraiya yelled excitedly.

"Not quite." She answered.

She moved fast despite her weakness to the wind. She slashed the trio who were much too close together and far too close to Tomoe with her whip. I felt the sting as the whip struck Yu. This whole 'being connected' sucked. In that blinding moment for the three she kicked Jiraiya.

"I claim my revenge you bastard!" She yelled swinging her whip.

Damn I was stupid. Next thing I knew the whip was tightly wrapped around me. The volts of electricity rushing through me from the whip. I just reacted without thinking. Wow. I guess idiocy does spread. Sukuna-Hikona was right. Oh well better me that him. I was much more resistant to to this than Jiraiya was. I grasped the whip with my free hand. I could see Jiraiya attempt to leap into action only to get struck with a stray spark from the whip and fall back. My hero.

"Garula." I told him.

"What? Are you crazy?!" Jiraiya demanded.

"Do it! Do it now!"

This was our chance. As long as she was focused on this one attack which I knew she was by the death glare she was giving me for getting in her way, she wouldn't move.. She was very intent on making my surfer since my getting in the way was such a sin for her. This was our chance. Maybe our only chance.

"Yosuke do it!" Yu ordered him.

I guess we were both on the same page here. With a few moments hesitation they used the spell. I couldn't hear Yu drop to the ground due to the roar of the wind but I knew he did because I would have done so if the wind wasn't pushing me up. I held on tightly to the whip to prevent her from running out of the wind attack which seemed to be picking up more power. Just when I thought I couldn't take it anymore and I thought I would pass out the attack halted. Finally. We both dropped to the ground. The whip that had bound me vanished as Tomoe turned back into the mirror image of Chie.

"Izanagi?" Jiraiya asked as he dropped beside me. He helped me into a sitting position. Much better than the floor.

Chie pulled herself up then.

"Chie! Are you okay!?" Yosuke questioned.

Well that's nice. Ignore your wounded human friend and go right to the girl.

"What happened…?"Chie asked. "What's the matter…? Got nothing to say anymore?"

"Stop it, Chie. It's all right."

"B-But…"

_'It's sort of silly to get so upset about this, we're all assholes sometimes.'_

_"I guess we are."_

"We all have different faces Chie." My partner said from the ground.

"Everyone…?" Chie asked.

"He's right… I went through the same thing. So I can understand… I mean… Everyone has a side like this…" Yosuke responded.

"Yeah… I kinda get it now. You are me… A side of me I couldn't forgive… That I tried to ignore… But you still exist. You're a part of me…" Chie admitted.

_"And cue what happened before."_

Tomoe regained her original form. Chie looked stunned at the figure in front of her.

"Looks like you've got a Persona now." Yu observed.

"I… Um, well it's true that part of me feels that way… But I wasn't lying about being friends with Yukiko…!" Chie tried to defend herself.

"Like we don't know that already. H-Hey! Chie!" Yosuke panicked when she stood.

"I'm okay… Just a little tired…"

"You don't look okay at all… And I bet… You can use the same power we have now." Yosuke smiled warmly.

_'Really?! What did I just say?!'_

"Huh…?" Chie blinked.

"Hey, what should we do?" Yosuke asked Yu.

_'Chie barely looks like she could walk, let alone fight.'_

_"Same goes for us."_

'_Yeah_.' "Let's head back."

"I agree. We need to let Chie rest." Yosuke agreed.

_"'CHIE!'"_ We both shouted in our minds.

_'Look at us dimwit!'_

"I-I never said I needed a break! I… can still keep going…"

"Don't overdo it!" Teddie warned.

"It's not that we don't think you can. It's just, we have to save Yukiko-san, no matter what. Now that you have the power, you can fight with us. It'd be much better for us all if you had your strength back. That's why we're saying we should go back and regroup." Yosuke told her.

"But Yukiko's still in here, isn't she!? I-I… If those were Yukiko's true feelings… then I have to tell her something. I'm not as strong as she thinks! It's because she was with me… Because we were always together, I was able to act that way. If we weren't, I'd…"

"Well, you need to get your strength back! Then you can tell her! Yuki-chan's normal. The Shadows don't attack normal people. They only attack when the fog lifts here." Teddie explained.

"So Yukiko-san will be safe until then?" Yosuke questioned the bear.

_"That was good news at least. If we had to do this all at once, we'd never make it."_

_'Agreed. Especially with how we're going it. We all need to learn to work together.'_

_"And Yosuke needs to learn to follow orders."_

"I'm positive." Teddie reassured.

"Why…? I don't get it…" Chie furrowed her brow.

"Teddie told us that the weather here is the opposite of our own world. When it fogs over in our world… That's the day it lifts here, and that's when the Shadows attack their victim. So even if we leave for a while, Yukiko-san won't be in danger until the fog starts to cover Inaba. I'm sure of it. It was the same way for that announcer and Senpai… Don't you remember how it was foggy in town on the days they died?" Yosuke explained.

"You mean… they were killed by their other selves?"

"The fog usually appears after it rains. But it's been sunny lately. I don't think it's going to rain anytime soon. Don't worry so much. We'll check the weather forecast first thing when we get back."

_"Cue Chie wanting to go on, though."_

That earned a chuckle out of Yu when Chie spoke.

"Bu- But I can't turn back now! We've come so far! Yukiko's still here! She's all alone… She must be so scared!"

"Then you tell me how much further we gotta go to reach Yukiko-san!" Yosuke demanded.

"Th-That's…!"

"You don't know what's up ahead. The enemies might be even stronger. If we push ourselves too hard and get wiped out, who'll save Yukiko-san then!? We can't fail, no matter what… Am I wrong?" Yosuke asked.

"…Alright. I'm sorry about before… I shouldn't have rushed in like that by myself…"

"We just have to stick together next time." Yu reasoned calmly though we both knew we kind of felt like yelling.

"No worries. We're definitely gonna save Yukiko-san… Right?" Yosuke asked.

" …Right!" Chie finally agreed.

Jiraiya sighed and pulled my free arm around his neck and pulled me up while Teddie ended up doing the same for Yu since Yosuke was too infatuated with Chie to notice. Tomoe had gotten transparent due to Chie's lack of strength to keep her solid. Chie was getting worse and worse as we walked back. It took them a sec to figure out why.

"My head feels like it's gonna split open… Are you guys okay?"

_'I'd not even realized it before, but she didn't have a pair of the Teddie's glasses.'_ "It's thanks to these."

"That's right, you're not wearing the glasses." Yosuke caught on.

"Oh yeah… What's with those glasses? Did your eyesight go bad?" Chie asked not getting it.

"Man… You didn't notice until now? How panicked were you…?" Yosuke asked her.

"Tum de dumm! I got a pair ready for Chie-chan, too. Here you go!" Teddie replied excitedly almost dropping Yu.

"Whoa! What the-!? This is awesome! It's like the fog doesn't exist!" Chie shouted as she put them on.

"Why didn't you whip those out earlier if you had them?" Yosuke demanded.

"I made them right now! You didn't tell me she was coming! It was all so sadden! I mean, sudden!"

"Huh… so that's the trick. I was wondering how you guys could see where you were going. Hey, is it alright if I keep this?" Chie questioned the bear.

"Fo' sho!"

"We'll have to stop here today… But I'll be back with these puppies! You guys better not come here without me, got it!?"

"Yeah, let's all promise each other… Nobody goes in alone. It's way too dangerous. If we don't work together, we won't be able to solve this case or save Yukiko-san… Right?" Yosuke responded.

_'I think that was something we could all agree on.'_ "You're right."

"Yeah I agree. And I promise too!" Chie said determinedly.

"Alright let's save Yukiko. Together this time." Yu said to them.

"Alright, so from tomorrow on, we'll try and come here as much as we can after school… And that includes days off. Hey… would you mind being our leader? You were the first to get this power, and you're way better in a fight than either of us. I think it's best for all of us if you set the pace of the investigation, and we follow your lead. I'm cool playing second banana."

_"Another one of Yosuke's ideas, huh?"_

_'I wouldn't have volunteered to be leader, but if that's what needs to happen I'll give it my all.'_ "Leave it to me."

"I had a feeling you'd say that. I mean, I'm more the advisor type, y'know? An ideas man, not an executive."

_"He gets Ideas? Has he had any good ones besides him not being leader?"_

_'Be nice.'_

"I'm with Yosuke. If you're the one calling the shots, I'd feel a lot more comfortable about this."

"I'm with Yosuke too. If you're the one calling the shots, my pillow will be a lot more comfortable at night." Teddie chimed in.

"Teddie, would you please stop talking. I'm really on edge right now…" Chie sighed.

_"You've been unanimously appointed team leader. Your days of pursuing this case alongside your friends have begun Where will such a fate lead you?"_

_'Shut up. That voice again… It seems our little team was another form of Social Link.'_

_"Huh? Social link?"_

Thou art I and I am thou. Thou hast established a new bond. It brings thee closer to the truth. Thou shalt be blessed when creating Personas of the fool arcana.

_'The fool? Was the universe making fun of us or something?'_

_"Ok I'll bite. What Are you talking about?"_

_'I'll try and explain later.'_

"Okay. Let's get some rest for today so we're ready for tomorrow on. And don't forget to check the weather forecast. It gets foggy after a lot of rain, so let's keep an eye out. Also, let's make sure we gear up for next time." Yosuke advised.

After that we were all sent back to that hotel again.

"Huh? Where are we?" Tomoe asked looking around.

"This is where we live now and that includes you. I'll show you around later." Jiraiya explained to her. "Now stay still. Ok Izanagi?"


	5. Chapter 5

We walked with Chie until we were sure she could make it home okay, then split up. I had almost let myself forget that Dojima was rightly going to be sort of pissed. We sat at the table having dinner. Good news the pain I had been experiencing earlier was gone. Wonder why. Last time the hits were much more minor. That one hit was like hell.

"That's all for world news tonight. Coming up next, the local news." The announcer on the TV said.

Dojima was quiet, with a stern expression on his face.

"Hey. Mind if I ask something? You aren't getting involved with any strange business, are you…? What happened at the station this afternoon… it's still bothering me. Is there… anything you're not telling me?"

_'Well I fight the personifications of humanity's dark side inside a TV set in order to save people thrown in by a madman with the help of my friends and our mythological allies. Other than that nothing.'_ "Don't worry."

" …Is something bothering you? Believe me, I do feel bad that I've been too caught up with work for us to have time to talk…"

"What's wrong? Are you fighting…?" Nanako asked.

"No… We're not having a fight." Dojima told her.

"This isn't the police station…" Nanako informed chewing her father out.

"I agreed to look after you. So don't get yourself involved in anything that could get you in trouble. Got that?"

"And now, our weather forecast. Due to high-pressure fronts from the west, that sunny spring-like weather will stay with us for a while longer." The weather lady announced.

"Is this lady the one who decides the weather? Cause when she says that it'll be sunny, it always is…"

"Uh, she's not really deciding it…Never mind." Dojima attempted to explain.

The news continued, heedless of the heavy atmosphere… The rain's not coming for a while yet. We've still got time…

* * *

"There. Good as new."

I stood at that. Jiraiya turned to the confused Tomoe.

"So we're stuck here?"

"Pretty much. Unless you want to go and chance walking out in that fog." Jiraiya told her.

"I leave you in charge of finding her room." I explained pulling the book I set down previously.

"Why me?"

"I have better things to do. Besides she had the dark pulses of a shadow not long ago. I'd rather not be around her right now." I bluntly stated opening the book.

"So you're going to act the same way you did around me to her now?" Jiraiya demanded.

"Until I'm certain, yes."

"Pffft. You're really something. Come on Tomoe."

* * *

"I wonder how Chie's doing." Yosuke wondered. Too much stuff happened yesterday. I hope she's back to her usual self…"

"Oh, mornin'." Chie said walking in.

"Are you okay?" I asked her.

"Yep. … Um… Thanks for everything yesterday. It's kind of embarrassing, ya know? You two were there to see my hidden feelings and all…"

"Don't sweat it." Yosuke told her.

"The same thing happened to Yosuke, right? Soooo… what was it like?" Chie inquired curiously.

"Huh? Uhhh, how should I put this… Oh, I nearly forgot! None of that happened when yours awakened, huh? Hmmm, could that be because you've got nothing to hide?" Yosuke asked directing the conversation away from himself.

_"Nice friend."_

_'Huh? How did you-?'_

_"I decided to try something and it worked. Oh Chie. Listen."_

"Oh? So nothing happened for you? I gotta agree that you seem like a pretty open guy. There's a funny air about you… I dunno, I guess that's what draws people to you, or something like that."

"Ummm... Is that suppose to be a compliment?"

"Yep! It's a compliment." Chie confirmed.

_"Chie's got a really funny way of saying nice things about people."_

"Uh… if you say so…" Yosuke put in.

"Anyways, what's most important right now is to rescue Yukiko. I'm dead set on coming. Remember… You promised." Chie reminded.

"Oh crap, I still haven't gone to the bathroom!" Yosuke realized.

Yosuke ran off.

_'Better than asking Morooka to take a piss, he gets really livid.'_

"Uh... Hey, um... Th- thanks for saving me... Yosuke's cool and all, but... There really is something different about you. I feel like you won't let me down."

_'Oh... Another link... Later.'_

Thou art I and I am thou. Thou hast established a new bond. It brings thee closer to the truth. Thou shalt be blessed when creating Personas of the chariot arcana.

_'Have I gotten her number yet?'_

_"Hitting on Yosuke's girl huh?"_

_'Shut up.'_ "Chie... Um could I get your number? Y-you know for the investigation?" _'I have the guts to face down a giant monster, but not to ask a girl for her phone number straight out. Then again, the worst thing the giant monster can do is kill me…'_

"Oh… right. You'll need this from now on, huh? We have to be careful of the fog that sets in after the rain, right? Let's save her before that happens!"

We returned to the TV world that afternoon. We began to realize right from the start that this wouldn't be as easy as we thought.

"Sensei, can I bother you for a second? The road here seems different from yesterday, so this place might get pretty tricky… I'll do my best to remember where we walked, so try not to get lost, Sensei. Anyways, I don't sense anyone around this area. If you go further ahead, we might be able to find something. Be careful and move on." Teddie explained.

We once again fought our way to the second floor. This time it was much easier due to our number. We came to the door and after a warning from Teddie we entered.

_'As if the Shadows weren't bad enough, it seemed this place's layout isn't even fixed. Teddie warned us something was waiting behind the door where we'd fought Chie's shadow, and sure enough he's right.'_

_"Quit complaining."_

* * *

"Yukiko?"

Yukiko-san! Are you all right!?

"Yukiko… what's wrong?" Chie questioned.

_"Everything is definitely not alright. Don't go near that thing."_

_'What's wrong?'_

"Oh my! Special guests? I wonder how they'll play into all this! *chuckle * Things are really heating up! Okie-dokie! I'm going back to the hunt for my Prince Charming! Ohhh, where could he be…? This place is huge! It's sooo exciting, but it makes it so hard to find him! Ooh! Maybe he's playing hide-and-seek in the fog! Ready or not, here I come! Let's go further in then, shall we!?" The Yukiko imposter said excitedly.

When I say that's when things got weird, I need you to understand that in context of the fact that we were in a magical princess castle inside a TV infested with evil spirits.

"Wh-What the hell is this!?" Yosuke demanded.

"You're… You're not Yukiko… Who are you!?"

"*chuckle * What're you talking about? I'm Yukiko… and Yukiko is me."

"No! Don't tell me, are you-!? Where's the real Yukiko!?" Chie shouted.

Random voices roared for a few seconds.

"What's with these voices…!?"

"The Shadows are getting agitated!" Teddie cried.

"Well, I'm off again! Heehee! You'd better be waiting with bells on, my dear Prince!" The Yukiko imposter shouted running out.

"Hey, wait! That clearly wasn't the real Yukiko. It had to be…" Chie trailed off.

"I don't think she was excited for nothing. I think it was. It must have been the other part of herself." Teddie pointed out.

"So it's just like what happened to us…" Yosuke muttered.

_"Teddie does make some good points every now and then."_

"The real Yukiko wants to show us something. I can feel it. It's hard to explain… It seems like she has a strong connection to this castle. This is a lot more dangerous than I thought!" Teddie warned.

"Yukiko…!" Chie worried running off yet again. I sighed.

"Hey… Not again! Dammit, we told her not to run off on her own!"

Chie didn't get far before we stopped her and calmed her down again. As we pushed on, things got stranger and stranger. The stairs to the third floor were much higher that the ones to the second.

"My Prince will soon come for me. *chuckle * I'll always be waiting… Forever and ever…"

"Hrmmm… I hear voices, but the only things I sense here are Shadows and you guys. Sensei and Shadows… Oooh, there we go! *snrk * Hey Sensei! Listen to this. When you attack Shadows from behind, Sense will have a Sensei-tional advantage! Sensei's Sensai-tional advantage! Heeheehee…"

_"If only we could deploy Teddie's puns against the Shadows."_

_'Be nice. But yeah. Be super effective against all types.'_

_"Critical hit every time."_

The foes were slightly stronger on the third floor but we quickly got to the four floor.

"Welcome. Thank you for coming to the Amagi Inn today. Your room is right this way. If we can help you in any way, please let us know immediately." Yukiko's voice sounded.

"…What's this voice talking about? This place isn't an inn. It's totally a castle!" Teddie exclaimed.

And on the fifth floor, Teddie gave us some good news.

"Where is she...?" The fake Yukiko laughed. "I can sense her! She must be on this floor!"

"Wow! By any chance, are you… My Princes? I'm locked up here… Please save me! Hmhmhm… I'm sure my Princes can do it… I'm sure they'll brave any danger to release me from this place… I'll be waiting for you… Ohoho…" The fake Yukiko informed.

"This seems very strange… Be careful." Teddie warned.

The damn floor is pretty confusing. If we tried to advance, we'd be teleported away. What's more, half the doors were locked up tight. We realized, though, that we could travel forward by backtracking after we were teleported away. And soon, Teddie told us we'd found the right door.

"So who is it this time?"

"Hm?" I looked to Jiraiya.

"Who is shadow Yukiko?"

I thought for a second. "I didn't really check."

"Check now."

"Impatient." I commented but focused anyway. "... Konohana Sakuya."

"Her too... Looks like we need to start our own investigation." Tomoe put in.

"The only way we can do that is by doing what we are now. It's the only chance we have to gain more information." I informed.

"Hey. What you talking about?" Yosuke asked.

"Nothing really." Jiraiya answered.

"Well come on then."

" I sense someone beyond this door. It's that girls scent!" Teddie exclaimed.

With that everyone rushed in. Right into a trap.

"My Prince wouldn't lose to guards such as this, correct?" Konohana Sakuya asked.

"Gyaaaaaah! I've never seen such a strong one before! I-It's attacking us!" Teddie cried.

"Here's your first mid-level Shadow boss. This one's pretty simple. It-" I started.

"Oh I know this! Let me explain!" Jiraiya interrupted excitedly.

"Uh... Ok?"

"It uses powerful physical attacks and is only really vulnerable to magic. All we have to do is pound spells out into him and heal when we need to, easy as can be."

We smashed the Shadow, but by the time we were done Yukiko had already vanished. We also found the key to the level's doors, but our partners were just in no shape to continue. We could all feel it after all.

"If you really are my Prince, then we will surely meet again. I am but a trapped soul… I cannot leave this place even if I wished…"

"I don't sense her anymore… Oh! Are you okay, Sensei? I'm sure we've got a long way to go. Don't push yourself too hard!

If you're tired, you should head back!"

_"You're no good to Yukiko dead, so you might want to return to your world. The rains aren't coming for a while, so we still have time." I advised._

_'Yeah.'_ "Let's head back."

* * *

"So now what?"

_"Run along and do whatever it is Tomoe's do?"_ I shooed her away with my hand. "Go bother Jiraiya. Don't you want to get your revenge for that prank he played on you?"

"Oh yeah! I still have to kick his ass!"

Not even five seconds later I heard Jiraiya call out in pain. Oh that's right... Yosuke. Maybe I should've suggested something else... Oh well the damage is done. Can't undo it now.

"Revenge is so sweet! That's what you get! You'll never try that again will you?!"

"No! Never! Promise!"

* * *

The following day... It turns out supernatural people can totally just call you up on your cell whenever they want. My phone rang so naturally I picked up.

"Hello. I realize this is sudden, but… I'm Margaret. We met at the Velvet Room the other day. There is one important point I forgot to warn you about, so I thought it best to contact you immediately. Going to save your friends is a selfless and noble deed… By all means, we encourage and support you in regards to this matter. But to proceed to hastily in that quest will mean facing one battle after the next. Though you may be pressed for time, devoting yourself to battles will not quench your heart's yearnings. The bonds created through Social Links are another important means of strengthening the powers of your Persona… Do not hasten heedlessly through your days, and remember the importance of moving at a sustainable pace. Please remember that. Well then, if you'll excuse me…"

_'She's probably right. This has already been getting harder, and if what I do outside the TV is just as important to becoming stronger. I can't neglect it.'_

As I walked to school, I heard something interesting.


	6. Chapter 6

"The sports clubs are starting to accept applicants today! Which one should I join?" One girl questioned the other.

"Weren't you asking the same thing last year? And the year before that?"

"Was I? Well, whatever. I shouldn't join a sports team. I need to focus on my entrance exams this year! I need to choose which shrine to wish for luck at with my mother so I can pass the exams. I don't want to go to the shrine near the shopping district, 'cuz it's all shady and creepy, you know…? Not only that, but I heard a rumor that there's something living in that shrine! …I wonder if it's true…"

I've been feeling how out of shape I got last year a lot in the TV world, so I decided to see what sports clubs were accepting people after school. Of course it just had to be Morooka in the Faculty Office.

"Eh? You want to join a club? Ohhh, no! I know what you're really after! You're just trawling for girls, aren't you!? Admit it! Listen up! A club is supposed to be…"

Blah blah blah...For some reason asking about clubs equals lectures by a drunken moron.

"So, still want to join a club?"

I didn't come all this way just to get lectured and go out empty handed so I asked him about the sports clubs.

"Trying to break a youthful sweat, are you?!"

Well I get enough of that in the TV but ya know. Might boost my endurance.

"…You can join either the soccer club or the basketball club. After leaving the faculty office, make a left, and go through the exit to get to where the sports clubs meet! By the way, club days are Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday! Sports clubs don't meet on rainy days! Got it!?"

No? You don't play soccer in the rain? Really? Wouldn't have guessed. I excused myself rather than talk with Morooka for even one more second. I used to play soccer quite a bit back in the day, so it was an obvious choice.

"Alright guys, listen up. You all have a new teammate! You all know Yu? Correct? He's from the city, so I'm sure he's got some moves he's just waiting to show off! I'd say this season is in the bag! I'm even thinking about making him captain!"

I could hear the other players whispering… The least they could do was not let me hear it.

"The city, huh?"

"I bet he played for some big team back home…"

"Tch, look at him. City slicker…"

"Probably thinks he's better than us…"

"Yeah, we're just a bunch of hicks to him…"

"Here, why don't you say something to the team?"

Even though they were being huge dicks to me I decided to play it cool.

"It's nice to meet you all. I hope to be of some use to the team." I said with a warm smile.

"…Yeah." One of them muttered.

They don't seem very friendly

"Alright, let's start with a few laps! Yu, why don't you just watch for today? Practices are on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, but we don't practice in the rain. We take the week before exams off too, so make sure you use that time to study hard, okay?"

The other players, showing no interest in me, dispersed about the field… To my relief however. One guy stayed behind, though.

"Hey man. Don't let 'em get to you. Just play hard and have fun. I'm Daisuke Nagase. Second year, same as you. Nice to meet you."

"Yo Daisuke, you waiting for a special invitation? Let's go! Oh, hey, you're the transfer student, right? Joined the soccer team, huh? Good, 'cause they need all the help they can get. Pretty weak team, know what I'm saying?"

"Shut up! Your team is just as lame! This big mouth here is Kou. He's the same grade as us, but he's on the basketball team."

Daisuke and Kou seemed like decent guys at least.

"Kou Ichijo. I'm the basketball teams up-and-coming MVP."

"Man, get your head outta the clouds."

"Hey, and that's not all! I'm pretty smart too, so if you need any help on your tests, I'm your man. …How 'bout it, transfer student? You a smart guy?" Kou questioned.

"Stop calling him that. The team's already giving him enough crap as it is…"

"Ahhh, I can hear it now. "Us country folk ain't gonna get shown up by now big shot city boy!" Gotta love those guys."

"It's not funny, man…" Daisuke chided his friend.

"Well, as long as he's got some skills, they'll back off sooner or later. You played much soccer before, Yu?"

It's been a while, but back in the day yeah.

"Plenty but it's been awhile."

"Then this should be easy." Kou replied.

Then it happened again. The second social link that I've formed in the past two days. Thou art I blah blah blah strength arcana.

"Dammit, now I'm behind on my laps. Yu, wait up for me so we can walk home together."

"Alright, I'll go get changed. See you in a few." Kou started off.

Not much else to report today. We're still getting ready for our next trip into the TV. I walked home after spending a bit of time with Kou and Daisuke. Nanako would probably be home all alone again so I took a walk to Junes first. To my surprise Yosuke was there.

"Hey what you doing here so late?" Yosuke asked.

"I could ask you the same thing."

"I'm working late so I can get some over time. I'm going to get myself a motorcycle one of these days."

"Ah. I'm going to buy a few food items to cook Nanako."

"Your cousin right?"

"Yeah."

After I finished my shopping I finally headed back and what a surprise. Dojima wasn't there. He was really starting to piss me off. Poor little Nanako stuck here all alone all the time.

"Hey Nanako!" I greeted. "How would you feel about a home cooked meal for once? Hey?"

Her mood seemed to brighten considerably at that.

"Can I help?!" Nanako seemed delighted. How could I say no to that face.

"Of course."

* * *

I kept my distance from Tomoe like I had Jiraiya but not as bad. I could stand being in the same room and all but I couldn't be too close. Jiraiya found my attitude toward the whole situation amusing.

"What's your problem?" Tomoe demanded.

Jiraiya laughed.

"I don't trust you." I said bluntly like I had to Jiraiya.

"What?! Why?! What did I do?!"

"Try to kill me, Jiraiya, and three humans. Turn into a shadow. Threaten-"

"Ok! Ok! I know but come on. I'm fine now. You both had similar stories didn't you? I mean Jiraiya tried to kill you didn't he-?"

Jiraiya's mood dropped at the mention of his murder attempt.

"Yes and I didn't trust him for awhile either. I just need to make sure."

"How long is that going to take?"

"Depends on your actions." I replied turning some of my attention back to my book.

"... I'm bored. Hey Jiraiya how'd you handle your shadow form?"

Jiraiya paled.

"Can we just drop it...?"

"Why? What happened?"

Nosy as always.

"Um. Uh. I'd rather not say."

"OMG! What did you do?!"

"Uh..."

"Leave him be." I cut in. My voice monotone.

"Hm? But why? I was all shadow like and you both know what happened to me. How come I don't get to know either of yours?"

I looked to her. Her defiant, expectant gaze connecting with my serious one.

"I never turned into a shadow. Happy?"

"What? But what about Jiraiya?"

"I do not have the right to say." I responded turning back to my book in vain once again.

"Jiraiya?"

"Don't push him for answers." I warned.

"Why don't you want to say?"

"... I feel guilty." Jiraiya murmured.

"Why? It wasn't in your control."

Silence. I decided that it would be best to take my leave. I entered my bedroom although I could still hear their voices from outside.

"Why would You of all people feel guilty? That isn't like you."

"I... came Really close to... killing him..."

"Izanagi?"

"Yeah..."

"That's it? You had not control. There is nothing for you to feel sorry about."

I wonder. If Yosuke and Chie made a good couple later would Jiraiya and Tomoe? Ha. Those two as a couple would be funny. That would be an abusive relationship. Tomoe would be beating his a_s all the time. Jiraiya would be dead in a week.

* * *

The next day. Yosuke actually does have a lot of good ideas. Earlier today he suggested something I myself had tried earlier.

"Yo Yu. Oh, hey, I came up with an idea I've been meaning to ask you about. We're able to enter TVs now… Have you ever tried sticking your hand into a TV when something's on? Like, have you ever touched a TV when the Midnight Channel was on?"

"I've tried it already."

"You tried it out already!? Oho, now that's our leader! But, I see… So you can't just go to the same place that's on the screen. So my plan to jump right to where Yukiko-san is while she's on the screen wouldn't work, then… I thought it might work if there was a direct connection between what's on the TV and where you end up… But then again, it makes sense that it doesn't work that way. Different TVs are connected to different places, but everybody can watch the Midnight Channel. That's kind of a contradiction, isn't it? Then I guess there's no other way but through that castle, no matter how dangerous it might be… Still, I'm sure Yukiko-san is in a lot more pain than we are! We can't complain about stuff like this!"

Yosuke was in some trouble later, too

"Alright settle down. Class is now underway. My name is Mr. Hosoi, and in this class you'll be learning about contemporary writing. Let's all have fun. I know this is off-topic, but what's the point of applying for colleges outside Inaba? Why even bother? Nothing good ever comes out of competing with city-folk. The country side is all you need. Mmmhmm. Well, let's practice our spelling. Which of the following words is spelled correctly? You! Hana-chan! You're just the kind of guy who relies on his PC's spell check!"

"Huh!? Well, he got that right, but… Yu! Help me out here?"

_'Poor Yosuke.'_

_"Poor Yosuke what?" I asked._

_'... He just got called out in class to spell millennium.'_

_"Psh. Help him out. He's a goner if you don't."_

"M-i-l-l-e-n-n-i-u-m."

"M-i-l-l-e-n-n-i-u-m." Yosuke repeated.

"Ooh, good job, Hana-chan! The word "millennium" is very commonly misspelled. As you know, the word "millennium" comes from the Latin word "mille," meaning "thousand," and "annum," meaning "year." Remember when 1999 became the year 2000? Lots of words came out of that shift, like millennium baby, or millennium bug."

"Phew… You're a life saver, Yu. Thanks."

After school, we as in Yosuke me and probably both our Personas decided to take a break and headed down to the shopping district. We were sitting at Souzai Daigaku enjoying steak croquettes. Apparently this town was known for its steak. I didn't get it. They were tough not anything like Chie said they were.

"You trust Chie's judgement?"_ 'Still here?'_

_"I've got nothing to do back where I am. All I hear all the time is Jiraiya and Tomoe fighting over whatever."_

"Sticking chunks of steak in croquettes… Man, this really is the country, huh? Well, it is good… though it's tough. Chie called this stuff "tender and juicy"… What kinda teeth does she have…?" Yosuke asked as he took a bite.

As we ate and talked a couple of women walked by. They stopped not even ten feet away and they started talking. No not talking. Gossiping about Junes and Yosuke Right in front of him.

"He's from Junes. Yasogami High school right?"

"His classmate… Sato-san…? Went out of business…"

"This shopping district could disappear, and yet…"

_'Those bitches...'_

_"Stand up for him."_

Sorry about that... I'm kind of infamous around here." Yosuke uttered.

HE was saying sorry?! No way. Nuh uh this was not happening.

_"Then don't let it happen."_

I stood. That surprised Yosuke a bit.

"Hey ladies!"

"Dude what are you doing?" Yosuke demanded.

They turned to me.

"Just what the Hell is wrong with you two?!"

"Um excuse me?"

They have the nerve to say that?

"You can't just do that. Gossiping about a High school student who has no control about what his parents do. It's not his fault stores are closing down. If you have a problem I suggest you take it up with the company itself."

The two walked away rather quickly looking really surprised. I sat down still kind of flustered over the whole situation. In my head I got a couple words of praise from Izanagi for standing up for Yosuke.

"Bitches..." I muttered to no one in particular. In hearing distance anyway.

"Uh where did that come from?"

"They pissed me off." I said simply still looking in the direction they had fled.

"Remind me not to get on your bad side then." Yosuke chuckled. "But... um thanks."

"Don't mention it. They deserved it and so much more. That was just low."

"Still, this croquette is damn good, huh? I'm gonna have another. You want one too, right?"

_'Um sure... Whatever you say... huh? Magician rank up?'_

_"What?"_

_'Later'_

_"You keep saying that."_

_'I know but I'm not sure how to put it into words.'_

After the event with the whole gossip chicks and the meal we went our separate ways for the time being. I bet Nanko was going to be starving. I took a quick trip to Junes to get any ingredients that I thought I might be missing for our planned meal tonight. Better to have it and not need it than to run all the way to Junes after finding out that it was missing from the fridge or the cabinet.

_'I've made up my mind, we're going back in on Friday. That should give us plenty of time to rest up and get ready.'_

_"Great and all but what about your explanation? Oh and tell me what you can about any peculiar events."_

_'Um like from the beginning?'_

_"'Like from the beginning.' Now go on."_

It actually started when I came here to Inaba. It started on the ride here. On the train. Ever had one of those days? You know, the kind where you wonder what you did to someone in a past life? This was one of them, and it started even before I woke up. I had this weird dream. Normally I don't really remember dreams, but this one is clear as a bell. Or so I thought it was just a dream at the time. Now it happens on like a regular basis and I can enter when I please now. Anyway... I don't know what a blue limo driving through fog lined in blue velvet is supposed to mean, but I bet some shrink would get a damn paper out of coming up with something. Especially when I got to the people in there with me.

"My name is Igor… I am delighted to make your acquaintance. This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter… It is a room that only those who are bound by a "contract" may enter… It may be that such a fate awaits you in the near future. Now then… Why don't you introduce yourself…?"

I wondered why I needed to tell my own creepy dream my name.

"Hm… I see. Now, let's take a look into your future, shall we? Do you believe in fortune telling? Each reading is done with the same cards, yet the result is always different… *chuckle* Life itself follows the same principles, doesn't it? Hm… The Tower in the upright position represents the immediate future. It seems a terrible catastrophe is imminent."

Oh that's great... I'm moving a million miles away from home, I don't need a creepy dream troll to tell me catastrophe is coming. The next part, though, was a little more odd.

"The card indicating the future beyond that is... The Moon, in the upright position. This card represents "hesitation" and "mystery"… Very interesting indeed. It seems you will encounter a misfortune at your destination, and a great mystery will be imposed upon you. In the coming days, you will enter into a contract of some sort, after which you will return here. The coming year is a turning point in your destiny… If the mystery goes unsolved, your future may be forever lost. My duty is to provide assistance to our guests to ensure that does not happen. Ah! I have neglected to introduce my assistant to you. This is Margaret. She is a resident of this place, like myself."

"My name is Margaret. I am here to accompany you through your journey."

Really?! Wouldn't have guessed that your name was Margaret.

We shall attend to the details another time.

Until then, farewell…

That's when I woke up, which really made things even worse. As bad as crazy dreams might be, they were better than the reality of what was going to happen today. Moving to Inaba… and then there was what is happening now with the whole murder shadow thing. There had been some story or another all over the news about some politician, Namatame or something, who's been stepping out on his wife with that news announcer Yamano. Nothing really interesting. Anyway my uncle had sent me a message saying he'd meet me at the station when I arrived. I had met my uncle and my cousin Nanako there and we headed out. We had to stop for gas though... I started feeling kind of queasy. I guessed it was the trip though. The ancient Chinese had a curse: "May you live in interesting times." I think I'm starting to get that now. Where do I start? Had an even more bullshit dream that night. Everything was shrouded in fog, which might have been a good thing because the floor looked really unsettling for whatever reason. As I moved forward, I heard a voice. It was just as indistinct as the world around me.

"Do you seek the truth? If it's truth you desire, come and find me…

The voice came from up ahead… There was some kind of door at the end of the path. I had a bad feeling about it. And me being me I entered. The other room was filled with even thicker fog. I hadn't even realized I was carrying it before, but I found a sword in my hands. It felt pretty natural, even though I've not really used one before. There was someone else there with me.

"So you are the one pursuing me. Try all you like."

I could just barely make out the outline of the person. I struck him the sword that seemed to have magically appeared.

"Seems that you can see a little despite the fog. I see… Indeed, you possess an interesting quality… But… you will not catch me so easily… If what you seek is "truth," then your search will be even harder…"

The fog became even thicker… None of my attacks would connect after that. I think I started to get a bit worried after that. Then you showed up to help me fight it.

"Everyone sees what they want to…. And the fog only deepens…Will we meet again…? At a place other than here… Hmhm… I look forward to it…"

I lost consciousness… The fog was replaced by darkness. I woke up and later... After school there was a dead body incident. The following day was when I learned of the midnight channel. Midnight came closer at an annoying crawling pace as it seemed but the TV did come to life. A dull unfocused image of a girl appeared. My head began to swim and I heard a voice. What was going through my mind was along the lines of 'what the hell?' The TV was black again. I decided to reach out, prove to myself that what happened wasn't real. But… My hand went through. I was almost sucked in, I'm just glad my TV's so damn small. I managed to pull myself out but whacked my head on the table pretty hard. I swear my TV tried to eat me. The next day Yosuke and Chie told me of their experiences with the midnight channel. I decided to tell them about last night's little fiasco. I mean, if they'd seen the Midnight Channel maybe all the other stuff hit them too. So basically I tried to tell them about how my TV almost ate me last night.

"What was that about getting sucked into your TV…? Were you that tired last night? You must've just fallen asleep in front of your TV." Yosuke had asked.

"That'd be one interesting dream, though. I like the part where you got stuck 'cause your TV was too small. That's pretty realistic. Well, if it had been bigger, the-"

"Oh yeah? Well, flatscreen TVs are definitely in these days. Wanna go check 'em out on the way back? We're beefing up our electronics department this month."

"Oh, definitely! My parents don't know anything about electronics, and I've gotta see my kung-fu movies on the big screen! Hwa-taaaa!"

"We've got some pretty big ones in stock. I bet they'd be big enough for you to fit into, hehe."

I was sure I was never going to live that story down. Chie took a break from mocking me when she reminded herself of something. I'd say something but for the whole lightning reflexes and brutal accuracy thing. They had well after mocking me went to look at other TVs. I stayed and decided that I'd try and prove that it really happened. So I touched the screen and my hand went through. I smiled to myself as I withdrew my hand.

"Hey guys!"

They approached. I stuck my hand in the screen.

"I-Is his arm… in the TV…?" Yosuke stuttered.

"Whoa… Uhhh… Is that some kinda… new model? L-Like with a new function?"

"Hell no!"

"You've got to be kidding me?! Did your hand seriously go through the screen?!" Chie panicked.

"Oh man… This is for real… That's some magic trick, man! So how's it work, huh!? What's the magician's secret!?"

Then to freak them out even more and well this was one of those ideas that seemed good at the time... I stuck my head in.

"Hey don't do that! What are you doing?!"

"Oh my God!" Chie gasped.

"It's really spacious inside here. A real empty space like thing. Ooh what's that?" I smirked.

"Wh-What do you mean, "inside"!?"

"Wh-What do you mean, "empty space"!?"

"Wh-What do you mean, "spacious"!?"

"I mean, what's going on!?"

Then Yosuke expressed his surprise in the most eloquent way possible. Just perfect for the moment.

"Holy crap… I-I think this is all too much for my bladder…"

Oh, Yosuke. Then while I was laughing my head off at their surprise they well... And then they panicked, and we learned that as long as I'm stuck in the TV anyone can fall in. Who knew? It felt like we were going to fall forever. It was then we learned a few things about the TV world. We wandered until we got out but Yosuke wanted to go back in after his 'lover girl' got murdered. I couldn't just leave him so I went with him. We met that bear again and joined forces. Then I needed some help with some shadows and you were there for the rest. We came to the conclusion that the murderer was throwing people in the TV to kill them and so if we could save the person before they were killed we could stop the killer.


	7. Chapter 7

They had a bit of a scare the next morning when it rained.

_'Oh shit! It's raining! Yukiko-!'_

_"Relax. It takes time for fog to form. It would need to rain for at least three days before fog descends on your little town." I explained._

_'...Oh. Well that's a relief.'_

Apparently Yosuke didn't have a bike anymore since he didn't run anyone over that day.

"Hey Yu. I hear that it's gonna be sunny for a while, starting this afternoon. Looks like we're not gonna have to worry about the fog for now. The fog always sets in around the morning after it's rained for a few days." Yosuke greeted.

"We'll be ok for awhile. Well Yukiko will be ok for awhile." Yu answered.

"Let's keep our cool, make sure we're ready, and rescue Yukiko-san, no matter what!" Yosuke shouted with a new determination.

The rain cleared up like we had predicted. Yu decided to get another workout, and headed to soccer practice. After soccer practice the teammates who I was really starting to hate approached.

"Hey Yu tear down the goals and clean up before you leave alright?"

_"What? Don't do it. That's His job this week right?" I demanded._

_'I know it's a horrible dick move to throw this all on me but whatever. Maybe if I do this they'll start to accept me.'_ "Got it."

"Later."

_"What?!"_

"…? What were those guys saying to you?" Daisuke questioned.

Yu told Daisuke that he was going to tear down the goals and clean up.

"What? Everyone's supposed to take turns… You don't have to do that, man. Let's just go home." Daisuke countered.

_"Yes take his advice. But then it wouldn't get cleaned up. I guess you have to do it now."_

"Hey guys… Hm, did the soccer team finish early today?" Kou inquired as he came onto the field. "…What's wrong?"

Yu told Kou that he was going to tear down the goals and clean up. Just like he told Daisuke.

"Let me guess, they told you it was your job? Tch… how predictable. But yeah, you should probably do it anyway." Kou sighed.

"How come? They got no right to dump it all on him…" Daisuke reasoned.

"Don't do it because they told you to, do it because you "want to help." That'll throw 'em off guard. Here, I'll help out too. It'll go faster." Kou told Yu.

_'This was much harder work than I'd expected, it was a good thing they stayed around.'_ Yu thought.

_"You're lucky they showed up. Nanako would go hungry tonight."_

_'Not to sound mean but she can take care of herself. She's been taking care of herself way before I showed up.'_

_"Yeah but she expects you to cook for her now."_

_'... Oh right.'_

"Whew I'm beat." Kou spoke up.

"That's because you got into polishing those balls, man. You gotta pace yourself." Daisuke pointed out.

"Nah, it's not my style to half-ass things." Kou replied.

"Still, it went pretty fast with three people."

"Thanks for your help." Yu told them.

"No problem." Daisuke responded.

"Hey, you wanna grab some ramen on the way home?" Kou questioned.

"Sure but just for a little while. I've got a little cousin I need to feed." Yu told them.

"No problem." Kou answered and they started off.

"Alright. Hey, I saw that first-year at your practice today, Daisuke. She was watching you the entire time, man. I even heard her say, "Wow, he kicked the ball so hard!" I mean, duh… that's kinda the point of the game…" Kou said taking a bite.

"…I didn't notice." Daisuke said."

"Really? What a waste." Kou frowned.

"Enough of that crap. Yu, wanna stay after practice to work on your game a little more? Let's show those guys what you can do." Daisuke said switching the focus off of him.

"Yeah, that's a good idea. If you can run circles around them, they'll have to accept you, right?" Kou asked with a smirk.

"Exactly. Then it's decided. You're helping too, Kou."

"What? Since when do I have anything to do with the soccer team…?" Kou complained.

The three of them discussed practice before Yu had to leave.

_'It's good to get one last bit of normalcy in. We're going back in tomorrow, and we're going to save Yukiko, come hell or high water.'_

_"You sound very determined." I commented._

_'Just trying to psych myself. I can't be a leader if I'm not ready for this or hesitant.'_ "Do you want any sauce Nanko?"

"Yeah."

"Mild?"

"Yeah. That sounds good."

Later after getting Nanako in bed Yu sat up staring at his notes. His mind repeating the words on the page.

"Are you going to I don't know sleep? Tomorrow is the day you're going to go back into our world."

_'I can't sleep. So I decided that I may as well put this time to good use.'_

I sighed.

* * *

Today was the day we'd all agreed to return to the other world. They were all starting to get worried about what might happen if we delayed any longer.

"It rained yesterday, but it didn't feel like there was gonna be any fog, did it? Looks like the weather's gonna be nice for a while, so a little rain's not gonna hurt anything. But… were you able to sleep last night?" Yosuke asked.

_'Speaking of this my grades are gonna shoot through the roof, all this lack of sleep is giving me plenty of time to study.'_ "I couldn't sleep."

"Haha, you too? That makes me feel better. Anyway, let's take everything one step at a time, Leader!"

* * *

"Is he still sleeping?" Tomoe questioned. "Because this is not normal."

"I know but he's done this before. He's fine." Jiraiya responded.

"When?"

"Right before we saved you."

"Why?"

"Because apparently we're somehow connected to our users and his user didn't sleep all night."

"Oh ok so now what? I'm bored."

"You could go and make me breakfast." Jiraiya suggested.

"Oh so you think that I belong in the kitchen?!"

"What? When did I see that? I just asked if you co-"

"Yeah I heard you! I am not going to cook for you! You male chauvinistic b_stard!"

"What?! No put that down! Ow! Ah-"

"Bufula! Have fun in that ice block."

* * *

"Ah!"

Everyone in class looked to Yosuke who was now shivering.

"Need to go to the nurses office Hanamura?" The teacher asked.

"Y-y-yeah." Yosuke shivered and started toward the door.

* * *

"There has to be something that we're missing." Sraosha suggested.

"Of course there is! No one just vanishes!" Power pointed out clearly on edge.

"Everyone needs to calm down. Panicking isn't going to help anything. Now Virtue, have you pinpointed their energy signals?" Throne asked calmly.

"Not yet. It is very difficult with all of the fog that surrounds the area."

"So do you really think that is where they are are being taken?" Dominion questioned.

"Where else could they have gone? That is the only hint we have so we would have to work off of it anyway." Uriel replied supporting his head with his hand.

"I don't know but what if it's a trap?" Dominion asked thinking it over.

"Why would they have gone to all of the trouble to hide that area then? Why would the area be surrounded by powerful shadows? They are working very hard to keep us from finding it with all of the fog and very hard to keep their prisoners in." Archangel cut in.

"We need to make a decision before something horrible happens." Angel added.

"We are not going to take any action." Throne told them.

"What?!" The room echoed loudly with the sound of all the voices but Throne didn't seem to notice.

"We cannot just rush in blindly. First we need the location pinpointed or at least our search needs to be narrowed down much more." Throne elaborated.

"I will do my best." Virtue said.

* * *

After school ended they returned to the castle. Teddie had found a way to make the door open up to the highest floor we'd gotten to. I neither know nor care how that actually works. What was more important was how unsettling the atmosphere was getting.

"In other words she's a manager who's still in high school. Now that has a nice ring to it… Let's see if we can interview her. Excuse me!" Came the reporters voice on the next floor.

"Shut up!" Yukiko's voice followed.

"Someday, though… That aside, wow! You're looking gorgeous in that kimono. You must have a lot of male visitors."

"Leave me alone! I'm sick of everything! I'm sick of it…" Yukiko's voice raged.

"I don't get what's going on with all those voices, but I can sense that we're getting closer. Hang in there!" Teddie encouraged.

_'Seriously I want to punch that reporter guy when this is all done.' Yu thought._

"Hasn't my Prince come yet?" Konohana Sakuya chimed. "My dear Prince… Please hurry and take me away! Somewhere… To a world where no one knows me…"

"It's close! She's just beyond here!" Teddie told us as we reached the final floor.

We were greeted by a huge set of doors on the eighth floor, which Teddie informed us he was quite certain she was behind.

"Yukiko!" Chie shouted as she entered the room.

Yukiko, the real one, was clearly not in great shape. Her Shadow, though, was plenty energetic.

"I knew it!... There's two of her!" Yosuke shouted.

"Oh? Oooooh, what's this? Three princes are here to see me!? My my! Are you the surprise guests who came in late? Awwwww… I wish I'd gotten a better look at you! My, it's getting crowded here. Why don't you and I go somewhere else…? A land far, far away, where no one knows me. If you're my Prince, you'd take me there, won't you? C'mon… pretty please?" Konohana Sakuya continued to chime.

"Oooh. Is this "scoring a hot stud"!?" Teddie asked.

"Three princes…? Wait, does that include me, too…?" Chie asked seeming mildly disturbed.

"Duh! The third one's gotta be me!" Teddie cut in.

"I seriously doubt that…" Yosuke muttered.

_"The third one was, needless to say, NOT Teddie. I really hope Teddie gets over this hot stud thing because it's kind of creepy."_

_'I know right?'_

"Chie yes... Chie's my prince."

_'But not as creepy as that.'_

"She always leads the way… Chie's a strong Prince…Or at least, she WAS."

"Was…?" Chie questioned.

"When it comes down to it, Chie's just not good enough! She can't take me away from here! She can't save me!" Konohana Sakuya shouted.

"Yukiko…" Chie whispered.

The real Yukiko had heard enough. In retrospect this was a bad sort of turning point in the conversation.

"St-stop."

"Historic inn? Manager training!? I'm sick of all these things chaining me down! I never asked to be born here! Everything's decided for me! From how I live, to where I die! I'm so sick of it! To hell with it all!" Konohana Sakuya raged.

"That's not true…" Yukiko denied.

"I just want to go somewhere far away… Anywhere but here… Someone, please take me away… I can't leave here on my own… I'm completely useless…" Konohana Sakuya continued.

"Stop… Please stop…" Yukiko pleaded.

"I have no hope if I stay, and no courage to leave… So I sit on my _ass_ hoping that someday my Prince will come! I don't care where we go! Anywhere's fine! As long as it's not here, I don't give a damn! Historical tradition? Pride of the town? What a bunch of bullshit!" Konohana Sakuya pressed.

Yukiko was starting to get really upset, though I'm sure it's because of how much all of that really hit home. I mean how could she not sort of feel like that?

"How dare you...?" Yukiko asked her.

"That's how I really feel. Isn't that right… me!?"

"N-No…"

"Stop! Don't say it!" Yosuke attempted to stop her.

"Those goddamn words." I muttered.

"No! You're not me!" Yukiko denied.

_"I'm getting pretty sick of that."_

"Aaaah! This feels wonderful! It's building… more and more… If this keeps up… I'll… I'll…!

*chuckle * Ahaha! Ahahahahahaha!" Konohana Sakuya laughed.

_"Oh for the love of god."_

_'You are a god-'_

_"Not now." I interrupted as Konohana Sakuya transformed into a bird in a cage. "She feels trapped like a bird in a cage... I get it."_

"Aagh!"

"Yukiko!" Chie panicked.

"We have to stop it! That girls in danger!" Teddie cried.

"We know!" Yosuke snapped.

"It's all right, Yukiko… Just hang in there! We'll save you!" Chie shouted as she raced toward her and quickly brought her away from the rapidly changing shadow.

"I am a shadow... The true self. Now, my Prince… Why don't we dance and make merry together?"

"Hang in there, Yukiko… I'm right here for you!" Chie called to her even though she passed out.

"Oh really…? Then I'll make sure to give you plenty to deal with!"

Yu solidified me. The others soon followed his example.

"And now the game has begun. Unlike the first two bosses, Shadow Yukiko has no weaknesses. She's totally immune to status effects, though she can be Downed by a crit. Her first attack is largely a wash, though you do want to be careful to have Chie guard so as not to let her get her knocked to the ground right off the bat like Yosuke was. When her second attack comes around, though…" I trailed off as she summoned.

"It wasn't that bad!" Yosuke attempted to defend himself.

"We're not done yet! Show me this strength of yours! Come my Prince!"

The shadow called the Charming Prince appeared causing Konohana Sakuya to laugh.

"…She summons her Charming Prince. The Charming Prince is a particularly annoying little bastard. It will buff itself and Shadow Yukiko with Sukukaja, it has Diarama, it can do some pretty nasty physical damage with its Cleave attack, and it can inflict Fear. That last one is actually by far the most dangerous, because if someone is Feared when Shadow Yukiko's turn comes around she can use an attack on them called Shivering Rondo. Shivering Rondo pretty much kills whoever it hits instantly. The Prince has one key flaw, though, he's weak against Ice. He also gets Dizzied by any hit on him while he's Down. We can keep him locked down for half of his turns, then, by simply hitting him with a Bufu skill and then whacking him while he's down. Personally, I like the idea of killing the Charming Prince before even really starting on Shadow Yukiko. One thing to be careful about is that if Shadow Yukiko gets a chance for a follow up while he's up, she'll probably cast White Wall on the Prince to temporarily negate his weakness. If you do kill the Prince he won't return as long as Chie's around."

"When I'm around?"

"Yes. She considers you her prince so if you defeat it, it won't return for fear of you." I explained. "So that little pest is up to you and Tomoe."

"Well then let's beat these shadows into the ground!" Yosuke smirked getting into a fighting position.

"Careful. I don't want you killing yourself." Yu half teased and Yosuke frowned.

"Here she comes!" I warned as she spread her wings. "Chie guard!"

She did so. The agi spell struck her but did considerably less damaged than it could have.

"Well it looks like she can actually follow orders." Yu commented. "Chie, Tomoe take care of the Prince. We'll watch your back and keep Konohana's fire attacks from striking you two."

They nodded and dashed toward the Prince.

"Oh this should be fun!" Konohana Sakuya chimed.

"You could always just back down now." Jiraiya offered.

"What? And miss this chance? I will get so much praise for dragging you all into the fog! The humans kneel and we will all rule as gods!"

"Oh great another nut case. Was I like this?" Jiraiya questioned.

"Little bit." I answered raising my blade.

I moved forward on command, blade ready to strike. I leaped up to the cage and swung. I mentally swore which Yu heard since we were connected as the cage door swung shut.

**So any predictions since I need some motivation or ideas of how this battle should go. Yeah motivation! Well see you all soon I hope. BrightDarkness-2013 out!**

**Jiraiya: What that's it? That's the shortest chapter ever!**

**Me: Oh shut up it's the end of the year and all my teachers are all like we need and end of the year assignment that takes weeks to finish so the students have no time to themselves the last 3-4 weeks and lets do it all at the SAME TIME! So shut up and deal with it!**

**Jiraiya: Well you don't half to yell! You're going to make me deaf!**

**Me: Shut up!**

**Jiraiya: You shut up!**

**Izanagi: It is very impolite to yell at a lady.**

**Jiraiya: What?!**

**Me: Thank you, Izanagi. See you all later!**


End file.
